RHS Girls Soccer Collects Opening Round Victory, Await #1 Greensburg C.C.

The Riverside girls soccer team vanquished some past playoff exits on Saturday, collecting an opening round victory over Winchester Thurston to advance to WPIAL Class A quarterfinals.

After four straight first round exits, the Lady Panthers scored a 8-4 victory and have advanced to play #1 Greensburg Central Catholic on Wednesday.

With seven seniors on the roster, including six starters, the Panthers posted their best section record in team history this year with an 8-2 mark (10-7 overall).

On Saturday, Riverside earned another victory.

Sophomore Emma Thellman netted three goals while Megan Zelch also scored three times to lead the 8-seeded Panthers to their opening round victory.

For the captain Zelch, she was second on the team in regular season points (9 assists, 18 goals on 42 shots) and, according to second-year head coach John Siget, the senior has shown leadership on and off the field.

“Megan was a constant leader on and off the field and helped organize the off-season training,” said Siget. “Megan started 16 games and played as our center forward and/or a holding mid.”

Siget points out a few other girls who have stepped up and took charge in the summer and really helped with leadership and guidance throughout the successful regular season.

Fellow senior Sarah Smith is the leader of the Panther defense and, according to Siget, is the most deserving of being selected as an ALL-WPIAL player.

“Sarah is vocal and helped keep our defense settled and calm. Her play was more consistent of a stay at home defenseman. She concentrated more on the defensive
side in order to help the team.”

Sophomore Lexi Fluharty, who chipped in two goals on Saturday, started all 17 games and has played as the Panther outside and/or center forward, finishing with a team high 46 points. (10 assists, 18 goals on 44 shots).

“She was a constant force and always gave 100%,” said Siget.

In goal, Junior Lauren Krug made 93 saves on 118 shots (.788 save percentage) in the regular season. Krug also finished with a record of 9 wins and 5 losses along with 1 shutout and 1 1/2 shared shutouts in 15 games.

“The team had a very good year and are proud of their accomplishments,” concluded Siget.

With a playoff victory under its belt, the Panther next look to an upset bid against top seeded Greensburg Catholic this week.

Greensburg Central Catholic wiped out Eden Christian 9-0 in their opening round affair on Saturday. [VIEW FULL CLASS-A WPIAL BRACKET]

RELATED: The Riverside Boys Soccer Team opens its playoff push with an opening round contest on Tuesday, October 26 versus Trinity Christian. The 11-seeded Panthers will travel to Fox Chapel HS for the 6:00 p.m. match-up. The winner will advance to play the winner of Sewickley Academy/Aquinas Academy on Saturday, October 30 with a site/time TBA. Defending champion Greensburg Central Catholic (12-2 overall) holds the top overall seed in the boys Class-A WPIAL Playoff picture. [VIEW FULL BRACKET]