Greensburg Central Catholic declares Friday 'Centurion Day' as soccer teams vie for PIAA titles
It’s been a complicated fall sports season for teams across the country, with an extra layer of health and safety guidelines to protect players, coaches and staff from the coronavirus.
That makes it all the more impressive to see both the boys and girls soccer teams from Greensburg Central Catholic High School competing for PIAA Class A championships on Friday, a day GCC administrators declared “Centurion Day.”
“It’s been fantastic,” said GCC athletic director Daniel Mahoney. “I applaud our coaching staff and our student athletes, who’ve worked throughout the whole fall season, maintaining the proper protocols and doing what we’ve asked so they can stay healthy and safe.”
The girls will play Southern Columbia at 11 a.m. and the boys will take on Faith Christian at 1:30 p.m., with both games taking place at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey.
It will mark the first trip to Hershey since 2014 for the undefeated girls team (18-0), which scored 36 goals in just six playoff games.
The 17-1 boys, who made it to the PIAA semifinals the past two seasons, are headed to their first state championship game.
“We’re very proud of what these teams have been able to accomplish, especially under the cloud of the covid-19 pandemic,” said Diocese of Greensburg Administrator, Monsignor Larry Kulick.
Soccer isn’t the only area where GCC student athletes have excelled this fall.
“Our volleyball team made it the finals, our girls golf team won a sixth straight WPIAL championship and placed runner-up in the state, and we had some cross country kids who made to WPIAL placements and qualified for the PIAA meet last month,” Mahoney said. “To top it off with two soccer teams heading to Hershey is great.”
Mahoney said he’s encouraged to see players, coaches and staff taking health and safety requests seriously.
“We only had one issue with a student on the football team, a player who had to be tested because of potential exposure, and the test came back negative,” Mahoney said. “So, knock on wood, that’s been it so far.”
Both championship games will be streamed live at PCNTV.com/soccer.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.
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