Isaac Tarbuck’s goal in the 72nd minute of play proved to be the difference Monday night as unbeaten Our Lady of the Sacred Heart squeezed out a 1-0 victory over Winchester Thurston in the semifinals of the WPIAL boys Class 1A soccer tournament at Quaker Valley High School.
Tarbuck took advantage of a defensive miscue on the part of the Bears and headed a ball past Winchester Thurston goalkeeper Aiden Piemme for the game’s only goal.
Second-seeded OLSH, which has not lost in 18 starts this season, will take on top-seeded Bentworth in the WPIAL championship match at Highmark Stadium at a date and time to be determined.
Bentworth earned its berth in the final by beating Beaver County Christian, 2-0, in Monday’s other semifinal game.
This will mark the second straight year the two teams will have met in the WPIAL title game; last year, Bentworth won its second straight crown by prevailing in penalty kicks, 5-4.
The Chargers have never won a WPIAL title in boys soccer.
Monday’s game marked the first time OLSH had been held to less than two goals since its 2-1 season-opening victory over Trinity Christian on Aug. 23.
GIRLS CLASS 3A
South Fayette 4, Moon Area 1
Gabby Beinecke’s goal late in the first half snapped a 1-1 tie and propelled the second-seeded Lions past the third-seeded Tigers in the semifinals of the WPIAL Class 3A tournament.
The loss was Moon’s first since dropping a 2-1 overtime decision to Pine-Richland on Sept. 6. The Tigers had won 14 straight prior to Monday’s loss to the Lions.
Moon will still have a shot at earning a berth in the PIAA tournament, as it will take on Plum Wednesday in a third place/consolation match at a time and location to be determined.
The fourth-seeded Mustangs lost to top-seeded Fox Chapel in Monday’s other semifinal game.
The top three finishers in the WPIAL tournament move on to the PIAA tournament.
Moon, now 18-2, took a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the game when Emma Marquis scored after a shot by teammate Riley LaFayette was initially stopped by South Fayette keeper Caitlyn Thompson.
Quinn Miller’s goal on a penalty kick in the 24th minute tied the score for the Lions, and it remained deadlocked until Beinecke beat Moon goalkeeper Ainslie Romasco to a loose ball, settled down and then put a shot past a Moon defender who tried in vain to cover the goal in Romasco’s absence.
South Fayette added another goal early in the second half by Silvi Rossi to boost the Lions’ lead to 3-1 and Mia Deramo scored a final goal later in the half.
Moon had several chances in the second half to score, including one by LaFayette with six minutes to play, but Thompson turned those bids aside.
BOYS ALL-WPIAL HONORS
A handful of West Hills players – and one coach – were honored by the Western Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association Monday, as the group released its 2025 boys All-WPIAL selections and players of the year in each classification.
Owen Minzer of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart was named player of the year for Class 1A and was one of five Chargers players selected to the All-Class A squad.
Joining Minzer on the 25-player squad were Patrick Altmar, Brady Hernandez, Luke Wrabley and Peter Zink.
In Class 3A, Moon Area’s Tyler Blake was named coach of the year.
Four of Blake’s players were selected for All-WPIAL for Class 3A in Will Guarino, Jocsan Castillo, Eric Haupt and Hayden Dunn.
Moon captured the Section 4 title and reached the quarterfinals of this year’s WPIAL tournament, where its season came to an end in a 1-0 loss to Thomas Jefferson last week.
Moon finished the season 13-6-1, coming up short in its bid to win back-to-back WPIAL titles
OLSH extended its season-long winning streak to 18 games Monday night beating Winchester Thurston, 1-0, in the WPIAL Class 1A semifinals and will take on Bentworth for the WPIAL title.
(This story will be update when championship and third-place game times are announced.)
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