Peters Township blanks Upper St. Clair
McMURRAY – Upper St. Clair came into Monday night’s Class 4A Section 2 girls soccer contest outscoring its opponents, 39-0, through six matches.
Peters Township broke the Panthers’ streak, scoring 7:20 into the first half on a goal Julia Spergel. PT was able to hold on for a 1-0 home victory.
The Indians (5-0-1, 7-0-1) have 16 section points and Upper St. Clair is second with 15. Peters Township played to a scoreless draw with Canon-McMillan on Aug. 28. The Panthers beat the Big Macs, 2-0, on Sept. 11.
“We are trying to get the highest seed we can for the playoffs,” Peters Township coach Pat Vereb said. “We almost scored too early.”
Spergel got behind the Upper St. Clair defense and retrieved a pass from Camryn Klein before beating the Panthers’ goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead.
“We had a quick counter attack and played a ball in behind their right back,” Vereb said. “Cam Klein played a great ball to her (Spergel), and she ran onto it and had a great finish.”
Upper St. Clair (5-1, 6-1) had five shots on target in the first 40 minutes, but sophomore goalkeeper Molly Kubistek was up to the task in turning all chances away, including two from point-blank range with 9:55 left in the half.
Upper St. Clair head coach Zach Hamilton declined comment in stating: “I don’t have a whole lot to say.”
Kubistek made eight stops for the clean sheet but credited her defense for its play in front of her.
“As a keeper, you have to be in good position, but you always need a good team in front of you,” Kubistek said. “We are very excited to win this game because Upper St. Clair is a great team. We kind of took this game as a personal challenge because we have friends on that team, too, so it was more of a personal game for us.”
Upper St. Clair (5-1, 7-1) went wide and attempted to score on crosses, but the Indians’ defense was able to clear the zone without allowing a shot on goal, and when one did get on target, Kubistek was up to the challenge each time.
“She’s (Kubistek) been great ever since she kind of taken hold of the job at the end of last year,” Vereb said. “We trust her, and she’s done a great job so far this year. She made some incredible saves to keep us at 1-0, especially in the first half.”
Peters Township didn’t create many chances after Spergel’s goal, but Vereb’s squad was focused on maintaining the shutout.
“Once we gained the lead, I think we sat back a little bit and went into a more defensive mode,” Vereb said. “We kept the game in front of us and maintained that lead. I thought we had a couple of good counter attacks in the second half. We hit the post off of one. It’s Peters-Upper St. Clair. It’s always a close game.”