Nov 15, 2023 By Jonathan Guth 4 min read

McMURRAY – Bryce Large lived up to his last name in scoring the game-winning goal with 25 seconds remaining in Charleroi’s 2-1 victory over Bentworth on Tuesday in the PIAA Class A boys soccer semifinals at Confluence Financial Partners Stadium at Peters Township Middle School.

The Cougars (22-1) advance to Saturday’s state final against Delco Christian at Eagle View Middle School in Mechanicsburg. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

“The boys will get to enjoy tonight, and the coaches will start doing their homework to prepare for Saturday,” Charleroi coach Jon Ducoli said. “We expect it will be a big challenge for the state title.”

Large, who scored the overtime game-winner against Tulpehocken in the quarterfinals, notched the biggest goal in his career to send his team to the first state final in program history.

“This was a total team effort,” Large said. “There is no way that ball can get there or we can be in that spot without everyone on this team. Even the guys on the bench help us out with their support and bringing the energy up. I thought we did amazing.

“It was nice to get some revenge against this team after losing to them in the WPIAL final. They (Bentworth) are a great team and I am glad we came out on top tonight. I knew we need something, we were in range, I had a slot, and was able to slide it in there. We are going to celebrate tonight, but we have to move on and focus on the big picture here. We are very excited to play for the state title.”

Charleroi, who went 3-1 against Bentworth (20-3) this year, took a 1-0 lead with 6:06 remaining in the first half, as Landon Barcus sent in a corner kick toward the front of the net where Arlo McIntyre put the ball to the right of Bearcats goalkeeper DJ Hays.

“They worked that baseline and cashed in that hard work,” Ducoli said. “It was nice to capitalize on that opportunity.”

The Bearcats, who rallied from two goals down in their last match against the Cougars to win the WPIAL title, scored the tying goal at 14:12 of the second half on a penalty-kick goal by Ryan Colbert after he was fouled in the penalty area.

Ducoli believes losing in the WPIAL title game served as a wakeup call for his team, and sensed a more focused unit throughout the state playoffs.

“The loss in the WPIAL final definitely put a bigger fire underneath us,” Ducoli said. “Going into a championship game being 19-0, you have a little bit of complacency, and that was our hard reset button. That’s exactly what we needed, and then the great competition in the state tournament along the way prepared us.”

Hays went down with a lower-body injury with 12 minutes remaining and Andrew Vipperman came in to replace him. Hays came in to finish the game.

“I think what hurt us is we had to shift a lot of kids around, and move some of our better kids around,” Bentworth coach Nick Malarbi said. “It seemed like that last four minutes we moved maybe eight pieces around. Andrew is a solid keeper and he plays for a cup team. It can go either way.”

Charleroi goalkeeper Nick Mazon kicked away an opportunity by Ryan Moessner with 6:35 remaining to keep the match tied.

“We knew it was going to be this type of match,” Malarbi said. “I am really proud of my guys and what they accomplished this year. We will lose some top guys, but I am confident we will be back.”