Upper St. Clair Wins See-Saw Battle In Overtime

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The Upper St. Clair girls soccer team led Pine-Richland on four separate occasions in last night’s Class 4A WPIAL Quarterfinal Game, but it took the fourth one in overtime to seal the 4-3 win and trip to the semifinals.

The No. 4 Panthers struck first on a goal from eventual overtime here, senior Landy Mertz, for a 1-0 lead. With four minutes left in the first half, the No. 5 Rams found the equalizer, and it looked like the teams would go into half all tied up. Right before half, senior Nikki Gibbons gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead. Gibbons’ goal was assisted by sophomore Carson Bogan.

The Rams struck first in the second half to tie the score at 2-2, but it wouldn’t be long before Upper St. Clair regained the lead for the third time. Gibbons found the back of the net for the second time in the game, assisted by Mertz, to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead. Just a couple minutes later, the Rams tied it back up at 3-3, forcing it to go to overtime.

Mertz, who started the scoring in the game, also ended it with her decisive goal in overtime for the 4-3 win.

Upper St. Clair improves to 13-3 and will face top-seed Seneca Valley (14-2) in the Class 4A WPIAL Semifinals on Saturday at North Allegheny at 5 p.m.