Trinity kicked out of WPIAL playoffs by Montour
The hundred or so brave souls that withstood this raw fall day were treated to a treasure that is not normally shared.
Montour won a playoff soccer match over Trinity, 3-2, by prevailing after 12 overtimes, or shootouts, if you prefer.
The final, game-winning effort came when Montour goalkeeper Ben Koch stopped one of the WPIAL’s most prolific scorers in Trinity’s Elijah Cincinnati for the second time in the shootout, smothering his shot to the right side of the net and setting off a celebration among the Montour faithful.
“He guessed right,” said a depressed Trinity head coach Ryan Julian.
When a match is tied after regulation, two 15-minute overtimes are played. If the match is still tied, then we go to the shootout. The ball is placed 12 yards from the eight-foot-tall, eight-yards-wide net.
The goalkeeper must remain on the goal line, though he or she can move from side to side.
“No, I’ve never had a match like this,” said Montour head coach Stephen Okai. “Going into overtime, after 80 minutes long, I never saw anything like it.”
Studies have been done and the chances a goalkeeper will stop a shot is about one in four.
Jake Donato hit the post with his first attempt then put a shot away into the right corner of the net for the game-winner.
“The first one he missed, I wasn’t worried,” said Okai. “I knew when he came around again that he would make the shot.”
Okai said he was a bit incredulous when Koch stopped Cincinnati twice, the final time to win it.
“I wasn’t thinking about that,” he said.
In the first shootout, five players from each team get one chance to make a goal. If the match is still tied, then five other players take a turn. If the match is still tied, then the shootout continues under a sudden death format.
After the first five had their turns, the match was still tied 2-2. Logan Errett sent a shot toward the middle of the net that went in and kept Trinity alive for the next five shooters.
The first three shooters made their goals for each team and the fourth missed for both.
That left the No 5, or in this case the No. 10, shooters Jared Gomez sent a zinger home to Koch’s right side and Kyle Fetchko put one in the upper right hand corner.
That brought the sudden death format into play. Cole Marshall of Montour and Trinity’s Jacob Paez made almost identical shots, whipping the ball into the left side of the net for the 11th spot.
“Colby Thomas did a great job in that overtime,” said Julian. “As strange as it sounds, it’s better to lose in a PK shootout than to lose in regulation because it’s so suspenseful. I’d rather go to keep on going in OT, 100%.”
In the first overtime, Errett nearly ended the game with a free kick from 27 yards but Koch made a great save.
With 2:04 to go, Gomex hit the crossbar with a shot that bounced back into play.
In the second overtime, Alex Tush made an amazing save of a shot that got past Morris. He kicked it away right before it went into the net.
With 6:44 left an assistant coach from Montour received a red card for arguing with an official and was forced to leave the sidelines.
During regulation, both teams scored twice in the first half and neither team could put one across in the second half.
Aiden Belcastro and Errett scored for Trinity and Brock Martindale and Nick Dettling, both reserves, scored for Montour.
Trinity, which came in as the fifth seed, finished with an 11-3 record. Montour (10-4-1), the 12th seed, plays 13th seed South Fayette Wednesday at home.