Goal-oriented Cougars: Charleroi hangs 10, wins 40th straight in section
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Waynesburg’s Dalton Woods, middle, celebrates his goal against Charleroi’s Joel Chambers with teammate Nate Jones. Woods’ goal gave Waynesburg a 1-0 lead Tuesday night. Charleroi bounced back to win 10-1.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Eben McIntyre of Charleroi made many shots that resulted in goals during his career, 166 of them. He leads the WPIAL with 69 this year and has the Cougars in the postseason.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Charleroi’s Dom Yocolano (18) and Waynesburg’s Colton Stoneking vie for control of the ball Tuesday night in a Class 2A Section 3 match at Myron Pottios Stadium.
Waynesburg’s Nate Jones tries to get the ball past Charleroi goalkeeper Nate Mazon.
CHARLEROI – The Charleroi boys soccer program inched closer to a potential fourth straight section title with a 10-1 win over Waynesburg Tuesday night.
“We went through the motions early and once Waynesburg scored, we learned from it,” said Charleroi coach Jon Ducoli. “The boys responded and that was important.
“We moved the ball well and found open spots.”
Waynesburg coach Matt Blair was proud of his team’s effort, especially considering the Raiders only had 11 players.
“The guys played hard and gave us the effort,” he said. “We are still sitting in third place, and as long as we take care of business we will make the playoffs.”
Eben McIntyre tied a career-high with five goals to pace Charleroi (9-0, 11-0) in the Class 2A Section 3 match.
McIntyre’s younger brother Arlo, a freshman, scored the first two goals of his career, and Sam Iacovangelo, Ty Patterson and Jake Caruso also tallied goals.
“Eben is a beautiful player and it is like he has the golden touch,” said Ducoli. “Arlo has been gun shy to see where he fits in, but we spoke at halftime and he has a beautiful shot.
“He made plays as did a lot of our guys tonight.”
Waynesburg (4-3, 4-3) took a 1-0 lead, and it was only the second time all year Charleroi has trailed.
The Raiders pushed the ball into Charleroi territory and a loose ball was played towards the goal box.
Charleroi keeper Nate Mazon came out eight yards to make an attempt on it, but Waynesburg’s Nate Jones played the ball over Mazon and Dalton Woods tapped it into the empty net to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead with 25:49 to play in the first half.
The goal served as a wakeup call for the “lackadaisical” Cougars, as Ducoli described his team.
Caruso tied the match with 17:22 to play in the half off a helper by Iacovangelo and Eben McIntyre scored his first two goals within the next eight minutes to give Charleroi a 3-1 lead going into the break.
The floodgates opened in the second half as Charleroi pulled away.
Iacovangelo led Charleroi with three assists while Arlo McIntyre also had multiple helpers as he finished with a pair.
Charleroi, which has outscored its opponents 56-6 this season, remains one of six undefeated and untied boys soccer teams left in the WPIAL.
The Cougars have won 40 straight section matches and their magic number to clinch at least a share of the section title is two.
Waynesburg, which holds the advantage for third place, is back in section action tonight when it hosts Brownsville while Charleroi, winner of 61 of its past 70 matches, heads to Southmoreland Thursday for a key section match.