The Philadelphia Catholic League Championship on Tuesday, Oct. 28 was a tough game. Roman and Archbishop Wood fought hard with Roman finding the woodwork in the first half. The game went into overtime, and then into double overtime, before Wood senior McWilliams redirected a corner into the goal for the golden goal. Kate Harmon wrote up the result.

Last week the head coach of La Salle soccer, Bob Peffle, retired. Peffle won seven Philadelphia Catholic League titles in 28 seasons of coaching. He taught his players to compete, and play with class. The league will miss him.

In the Philadelphia Public League Championship, also on Tuesday, undefeated Northeast faced Washington. The game was even at the start, but Adin Hernandez opened the scoring for NE, and the team added another before Washington’s Stephan Fytsyk scored one to give Washington a fighting chance. The second half was all Northeast, as the Vikings scored two more for a final score of 4-1. Paul Breen has a recap.

Boys district finals

The Public League champions face the Catholic League champions in what used to be called the city championship. (Click here for a list of winners back to 1957.) The games took place on Friday, Oct. 31.

The champion of each league is AAA so PCL champs Wood faced PPL heavyweight Northeast, at 7 pm. It looked like Northeast were going to carry their undefeated record one more game as the side had was up 2-0 at the half. Twenty minutes into the second half, Northeast still held a 2-0 lead, before an own-goal by NE from a free kick situation gave Wood hope. Wood was not finished, scoring another off a freekick. With only minutes left Brendan Marshall added a third for Wood, to win the District Twelve AAA title, and the city championship. Since the city joined the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association in 2008, the Catholic League Champ has won every time.

The best finishing Public League AA team was Furness, with their advance to the Public League quarterfinals. They faced Lansdale Catholic, the highest regular season Catholic League 2A team. Lansdale was able to score two in the first half, getting one from Dan Kelly  and another from Jake Saba . Ryan Magarity added a third in the second half for a final score of 3-0. Josh Yurasits provided each Lansdale assist.

In single A play, Philadelphia Academy Charter High School finished fifth in the Public League and advanced into the quarterfinals. In the Catholic League, Bishop McDevitt is the only single A team. They faced off at 3 pm. PACHS was able to dominate, with junior Stephan Koprobika scoring a hat trick while Dylan Prendergast earned his side a shutout in the 4-0 result. The win is the fourth time the Public League has won the 1A game.

Girls district finals

In the Public League Championship on Monday, Oct. 27, Franklin Towne Charter, undefeated in league play, faced Central High School. It was an even match for twenty minutes with the sides exchanging chances. Central goalie Hannah Baker saved a shot at full stretch to keep FTC off the scoreboard. Then FTC striker Arryana Coleman broke through and scored a goal, followed by another FTC strike a few minutes later. Central hopes were revived when senior Sanie Auguste broke down the right with speed and finished to the far post. Then FTC came on with a period of sustained pressure, that Central looked to end with the halftime whistle, but FTC broke through, scoring with ten seconds left in the half.

Central fought back into the game in the second half with a lot of chances, including another that was disallowed following a soft foul call. But FTC was resolute, holding on, and then scoring a fourth on the counterattack to ice the game. Jenna Rand, FTC’s keeper, had nine saves. Aryanna Coleman would finish the game with two goals and an assist. FTC has won four consecutive Public League championships, each against Central.

In the Catholic League, Archbishop Ryan (19-2) had their best players healthy at the right time. They defeated No. 2 team Archbishop Wood 3-0, with Jules Blank, Haley O’Neill, and Taylor Woods each contributing a goal.

In the District Twelve championships on Wednesday, Oct. 29, the Public League was outclassed by the Catholic League, as champion Ryan smashed six unanswered past champion FTC. Wood beat Science Leadership Academy, 11-0, and McDevitt beat PACHS 3-0.