Oct 25, 2017 4 min read

MOON TOWNSHIP – For the Peters Township High School boys soccer team, Wednesday night wasn’t only an opportunity to prove itself worthy of the No. 1 seed in Class 4A.

It was the Indians’ way to exercise their own demons in a return to Tiger Field, where their playoff run ended last season in a quarterfinal upset loss to lower-seeded and eventual 4A WPIAL champion North Allegheny.

Peters Township proved why it was the No. 1 seed and erased some bad memories of last year’s shortened season as it defeated No. 9 Butler 4-1 in a WPIAL quarterfinal playoff game at Moon Area High School.

“Something we talked about at length was getting through the first 10 minutes even and not make the mental mistakes like we did last year,” said Peters Township coach Bobby Dyer about an early goal that doomed the Indians last year. “We were chasing the game last year.”

The win advances Peters Township to a semifinal game against Pine-Richland Saturday at a site and time to be determined. The Indians will be searching for their first appearance in a WPIAL championship since winning one and a state title in 2014.

Peters Township (16-0-1) didn’t let the cold weather deter a hot start as senior striker Tyler Opferman took a pass from Bryce Gabelhart and beat Golden Tornado goalkeeper Andrew Chwalik on the Indians’ first shot, only a minute-and-a-half into the game.

Opferman scored his second goal and doubled PT’s lead 10 minutes later when he took a cross and found the back of the net to give the Indians a 2-0 advantage.

“I think we took advantage of mistakes and capitalized. Outside of that, the game was pretty even other than us being able to finish a couple of chances early. They were then chasing the game which opens it up.”

Peters Township gained even more momentum on its first true test defensively on a corner kick from the Golden Tornado in the 18th minute.

Senior midfielder Joseph Richetti played the role of goalkeeper along the right goal post and made a kick save to help goalkeeper Derek Deyarmin on a ball destined for the back of the net.

The Indians extended their lead to 3-0 when Logan Brinsky found the upper left corner on a 30-yard blast at the 18:45 mark.

“It’s a matter of him doing what he is asked to do in that situation,” Dyer said. “He put himself in the right position. Then there is the commitment of getting in front of it. He knows that’s his task to get to that area. It changed the game. It’s a big difference.”

Butler’s Bryce Schoettker trimmed the halftime deficit to two goals, 3-1, with only 15 seconds remaining in the first half by heading in a corner kick from teammate Tate Mohney.

“Absolutely,” Dyer said about being worried the goal might translate to a second-half comeback for Butler (14-6).

“At halftime we talked about the next goal deciding the game, because if they score it would have made it 3-2. That late goal didn’t need to happen. We had a chance to set up our defense. When a ball is served in with seconds left I would like to think that we would do better.”

Brinksy headed in a Luke Kelly cross to give the Indians a three-goal cushion, 4-1, with 23:36 remaining in the second half.

“We have talked about going from game to game and now you get to this and everything in the past can go away,” Dyer said.

“We haven’t talked about being undefeated, but when you get to this point one game sends you home. To make your mark on the program as a team, you have to win a title. Not just a section title but a WPIAL or state title.”