Oct 29, 2018 3 min read

CORAOPOLIS – Quaker Valley has built a strong tradition in boys soccer over the last three decades.

Charleroi is relatively new to deep runs in the postseason.

The Quakers’ experience and their senior scorers were the difference in the WPIAL Class AA semifinals Monday night at Moon High School as No. 4 seeded and previously undefeated Charleroi suffered a 5-0 setback to the top seed.

“They are a very nice club with a lot of talent everywhere on the field,” Charleroi coach Jon Ducoli said. “They are very disciplined and didn’t make a lot of mistakes against us. We had some fouls that didn’t go our way. The first goal is always important in the playoffs.”

The Cougars (18-1) still have a chance to qualify for the PIAA playoffs as they will face Deer Lakes in the third-place consolation contest Thursday. The site and time will be determined today.

“We just have to erase this game from our minds,” Ducoli said. “I believe the team will be ready and we know we can’t play like we did tonight. We have to treat this one like a fluke and move on. Our goal is still to make it to the state playoffs. The opportunity is there for us.”

Quaker Valley (18-3) will head to the finals at Highmark Stadium for the third year in a row and will meet Shady Side Academy for the championship later this week.

The Quakers lost to Shady Side in last year’s finals. They are vying for the school’s ninth WPIAL title.

Both teams registered only one shot on net in the first 10 minutes. Quaker Valley broke through near the midway point of the first half when Charleroi committed a foul in the box and Franky Fernandez scored on a penalty kick at the 22:07 mark.

The Quakers increased their lead to 2-0 with 2:07 left in the first half when Toma David booted a shot from 15 yards out that found the back of the net. Quaker Valley outshot Charleroi 6-2 in the opening 40 minutes and carried a 2-0 lead into intermission.

Quaker Valley scored insurance goals in the second half courtesy of markers by Pierce Diggins (25:12), Fernandez (19:10) and Dom Reiter (7:12).

Cullen Woytovich and Nick Laskey had some scoring chances in the second half for the Cougars, but they just couldn’t get a good rhythm going on offense throughout the contest.

“We made some minor tweaks at halftime, but we really didn’t get away from our game,” Ducoli said. “We generated more shots in the second half and had better ball movement. We got caught a couple of times on defense, and that led to some of their goals.”

Charleroi goalkeeper Nick Goodwin made eight saves. Quaker Valley’s Dom Lagnese had five stops.