ROBINSON TWP. — Many teams that make deep runs in postseason play rely on their underclassmen to make plays, but for No. 9 Quaker Valley, it placed its trust on its underclassmen to help punch its ticket to the WPIAL 2A boys high school soccer championship game in the team’s 3-2 win over No. 13 Ambridge on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
With the game sent into a second extra time, freshman midfielder Isaiah Graham put home the game-winning goal to send Quaker Valley back to the championship game for the first time since 2023.
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“Once I saw Connor [West] with possession of the ball, I was just sprinting towards the back post hoping that it would get through and it did,” Graham said. “From there, everything just went blank. It’s scary playing in a game like this as a freshman, competing against players that are 3-4 years older than you and trying to prove yourself.”
Along with the assist on the game-winning tally, West also tallied the Quakers’ first two goals.
West’s first goal came as he knotted things up at a goal apiece following Ambridge forward Emmitt Olenic’s opening tally in the 14th minute. His second came 15 minutes into the second half to put the Quakers up a goal.
Having experienced the agony of defeat in the semifinals last year, West wanted to make sure that he made the most of his opportunities in this year’s tilt.
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“Last year we were in the same spot when I was a freshman and I felt like I missed a couple of chances that could have brought us to that final,” West said. “I knew that I had to give it my all this time and help win our team this game.”
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For the second consecutive season, the left side of the WPIAL 2A high school soccer playoff bracket had a Cinderella run to the district semifinals, as following Beaver Area’s upset run to the title game, both Ambridge and Quaker Valley came into the game with upset victories.
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Ambridge picked up wins over No. 4 Elizabeth Forward and No. 12 South Park, while Quaker Valley, who is normally one of the top seeds in the Class 2A bracket, had wins over No. 8 Freeport and top-seeded Avonworth.
“We always want to be there at the end of the season, however it gets done, whether we are the top seed or the No. 9 seed,” Quaker Valley head coach Sean Ryan said. “We want to beat the best to be the best and we did that with Freeport, Avonworth, Ambridge and we are going to have to do it again in the finals. We are excited because it is a young team, but we have an excellent core group who have been stalwarts who run themselves into the ground and should have a lot of pride with the amount of miles they have put in this tournament.”
Now, Quaker Valley will set its sights on No. 10 Belle Vernon in the WPIAL championship game, which is slated for an 11 a.m. start on Saturday, Nov. 7 at F.N.B. Stadium.
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Ethan Morrison is the sports reporter for the Beaver County Times. Contact him at emorrison@usatodayco.com and follow him at EthanMorrison26 on X.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Quaker Valley freshman Isaiah Graham sends team to WPIAL championship
