Successful season

Oct 25, 2026 By Jonathan Guth 5 min read

PLUM — Laurel Highlands’ season came to an end on Saturday afternoon to top-seeded Plum in the first round of the WPIAL Class 3A boys soccer playoffs, but head coach Alexander Guie was pleased with his team’s effort in the match and the year.

Guie’s team lost the first three matches of the season, and suffered a 5-2 setback to cross-town rival Uniontown, but had a strong second half of the campaign, including a 2-0 victory over the Red Raiders in their second meeting to clinch a spot in the postseason.

Laurel Highlands (7-9-1) defeated Uniontown, 1-0, in double overtime on Thursday on Matt Kolencik’s golden goal to advance to the first round.

LH was also playing without junior forward Roman George, who was injured for its two playoff matches, but Guie’s club gave Plum all it could handle in a 5-0 setback.

“Overall, I’m happy with the season,” Guie said. “The way we’ve progressed, and I’m excited for the future. The way we keep building with our team. I couldn’t ask for a better group. I think we have 46 guys. It has been a pleasure to coach them this year, and I can’t wait for next year.”

Despite not being able to score, Guie was pleased with the way his club played against Plum, who entered the match undefeated at 16-0-1.

“We did pretty well coming out, even though we had a very emotional match Thursday night,” Guie said. “We had a couple of little breakdowns in the first half, but I think for large peroids of time, we possessed the ball, worked it around them, but we couldn’t get the final product. I don’t think it was a very big gap in skill, if at all, and there were times where I actually think we outplayed them.

“We just had some breakdowns, little things here and there, and they (Plum) are a solid team, from top to bottom. When you give them an inch, they are going to take a mile, especially in the second half. They got the third goal, then it’s had to dig yourself out of that hole.”

Plum scored the opening goal of the match with 30:46 remaining in the first half when Hudson Strasser sent a cross to the center of the field, and after the home team wasn’t able to get off the initial shot, Caden Zoller put in his first of two goals.

Plum’s second tally came with 12:34 left in the first 40 minutes when Joaquin Santiago chipped a ball over the head of Laurel Highlands senior keeper Dan O’Neal, who came out to challenge the attempt.

O’Neal made four saves, including a diving stop in the second half.

Guie and his staff will miss O’Neal next season, as he has been a mainstay for LH in goal.

“Since I’ve been here, Danny’s been our rock in the back there, and we are going to miss him for sure,” Guie said. “It was 5-0 today, but it could have easily been 8-0 or 9-0 without him back there making saves.”

Zoller’s brace came with 37:40 left in the second half after Anthony Arrigo sent in a free kick from 30 yards out to begin the sequence that led to Plum’s third goal on its sixth shot on target.

Kent Holmes scored his first of two goals 38 seconds later for a 4-0 advantage. O’Neal came out to challenge the attack, but Holmes was able to put the ball into the net.

Holmes finished the scoring with 29:07 remaining in the match on his team’s ninth and final shot on goal.

Laurel Highlands kept pushing forward to get on the scoreboard, as Jackson Baker had a shot on target with 9:30 left in the match.

Jackson Nairn had a shot travel just left of the goal at 8:15 of the second half. Nairn had two efforts go just left of the cage in the final three minutes. Nairn also played solid in the back, as he prevented many Plum’s opportunities in winning possession and eliminating a run for the home team with a slide tackle.

“Jack Nairn can do about everything on the field that a coach could ask him, whether he’s in the backline, midfield or up top,” Guie said. “He would even excel in goal if he wanted to do that. He is somebody you can always rely on, and we are glad to have him back next year.”

Kolencik’s performance was magnified in scoring the winning goal against Uniontown on Thursday, but his play in the back and midfield have been top-notch, according to Guie.

“Matt Kolencik has been indispensable,” Guie said. “You could rely on him to give you anywhere from an eight-out-of-10 or 10-out-of-10 performance every game. It might not show up on the scoresheet all the time, but that’s not what it’s all about. They are out there putting in hard minutes and doing the kind of unsung hero work constantly.”

Plum took 17 total shots, including nine on target. Laurel Highlands had eight total shots, two on target. The home team had a 2-1 edge in corner kicks.

Chase Eber started for Plum and made one save. Jack Majcher came on in the second half and stopped one shot to preserve the combined clean sheet.