Oct 26, 2016 4 min read

ELIZABETH – The best season in Waynesburg High School boys soccer history came to a stunning and sudden end Wednesday night.

Shady Side Academy’s Eric Zhang put in a shot from close range and to the left of the net to give the Indians a 3-2 victory over Waynesburg in the WPIAL Class AA quarterfinals at Elizabeth Forward High School.

The score came 2:24 into the second overtime.

Shady Side Academy (13-2-1), which is the No. 5 seed, advances to the semifinals Saturday against top-seeded South Park, a 2-1 winner over Deer Lakes.

Waynesburg (15-2), the No. 4 seed, has its season end but not before earning the second section title in school history and first postseason victory, a 2-0 win over Mt. Pleasant in the opening round.

“It was what I knew we were capable of,” Waynesburg coach Matt Blair said. “Before the season, I used the term cautiously optimistic. I knew the potential there was to be great. If everything went right, and it did, then we could be among the top 10 in the WPIAL.”

Everything went right for Waynesburg until the final minute of the first half against Shady Side Academy. That’s when the Indians tied the score at 1-1 as Patrick Hill-Junke took a long pass, fought off a Waynesburg defender and skipped a shot into the corner of the net with only 10.4 seconds left in the first half.

Waynesburg had forged a 1-0 lead with 25:30 left in the first half on a Gavin Benson goal. The freshman sensation maneuvered around three defenders and buried a shot into the bottom corner of the net. It was Waynesburg’s first shot of the match. Blake Brewer assisted on the goal.

Though SSA dominated play in the first half, the Indians trailed until Hill-Junke’s goal. Waynesburg goalkeeper Scott Benco kept the Raiders either tied or ahead for much of the match as he made 10 saves, several of the daring and spectacular fashion.

“Keeper was our biggest question all year,” Blair said. “We had three kids share time there. Some of the saves Scott made, I’m very proud of.”

SSA took a 2-1 lead when Wally Navid was open from 12 yards directly in front of the net and put a shot into the bottom left corner with 25:20 remaining in regulation.

Waynesburg played its best soccer in the final 10 minutes of regulation and during the first overtime. The Raiders got a break they needed when Benson was fouled in the box with 7:53 remaining.

Senior Nate Blair, who doubles as the placekicker for Waynesburg’s football team, took the penalty kick and left-footed a shot past the SSA goalkeeper to tie the score at 2-2.

“I was nervous,” Nate Blair admitted. “I haven’t taken many penalty kicks since by sophomore year because we haven’t had many. It’s still tougher to kick a field goal than a penalty shot. I can control every aspect of my shot and put it where I want, but there are too many variables that go with a field goal.”

Waynesburg had the better of the play in the first overtime but couldn’t convert it into a goal, even after a yellow card on SSA’s Brendan Brazinski.

The Indians scored the game-winner when Waynesburg failed to clear a ball in front of the net. It pinballed off two Waynesburg players and two SSA players before finding the right foot of Zhang, who had a clear opening to the far side of the net.

“We knew it was going to be a tight game,” Matt Blair said. “We matched up well with them. They’re a possession team like us. They possessed the ball a little better than we did.”