Our Lady of the Sacred Heart’s boys soccer team will get a second crack at unbeaten Bentworth Tuesday night in the semifinals of the PIAA Class 1A playoffs.
The Chargers, who fell to the Bearcats, 3-1, in the WPIAL championship game last month, will get a rematch at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, at Peters Township Middle School with a berth in the PIAA title game on the line.
Bentworth advanced to the semifinals by defeating District 10 champion Mercyhurst Prep, 3-1, and then whipping Winchester Thurston, the WPIAL’s No. 3 finisher, 7-1, in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
OLSH, meanwhile, opened PIAA play by beating District 6 champion Bishop Carroll, 7-2, and then rallying to defeat Lancaster Mennonite – the third-place finisher in District 3 – 2-1 Saturday on a second-half goals by Brady Hernandez and Aaron Callahan.
Callahan’s goal came with eight minutes to play in the game and snapped a 1-1 tie.
OLSH coach Brandon Scott said he and his team are excited to get another shot at Bentworth, which comes into the game with a 23-0 record and has handed OLSH its only loss in 21 games this year.
“Bentworth is always very organized and well coached, so we know we’re going to have to be sharp and disciplined for the full 80 minutes,” he said. “They’re a team that capitalizes on mistakes, so our decision-making on the ball and our tempo in possession are going to be big keys.”
Scott said that looking back, he thought the Chargers played well in the WPIAL championship loss to Bentworth.
“The effort was there, the moments of quality were there, and we created enough chances to win a championship game,” he said. “The lesson we take is that at this stage, small details matter. One moment can change everything. We have to be ruthless in both boxes.”
Scott said his team can use that recent meeting as a learning experience and apply what it learned in Tuesday’s PIAA semifinal.
“The composure needed in big environments, the ability to stay in structure when things get tense, and trusting our identity even when it’s tight, that all carries over,” he said.
“We believe if we stick to who we are and execute, we put ourselves in position to get the result we want.”
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