On October 21, the Norwin Girls Soccer team ended their season in dramatic fashion. After playing through all of regulation and two rounds of overtime–almost 2 full hours–without a goal, the Norwin Knights and Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils went into a penalty shootout in which Norwin would face a devastating defeat in the first round of WPIAL playoffs.
“I just couldn’t believe that it was all over after all those years I put into soccer and that I’ll never get to step on the field with that group of girls again,” said senior Lindsay Reese.
The Knights entered the playoffs as the fifth seed in the WPIAL 4A bracket. After losing 3-5 to Mt. Lebanon in early September in their second game of the regular season, Coach Ashley Devito knew that to beat the Blue Devils, they would need to turn their focus to the defensive side of the ball. And that they did.
“The first time we played Mt. Lebanon, they scored 5 goals on us!” Devito said. “They couldn’t get 1 in the playoffs!”
The Knights will be graduating 10 seniors this year. On their senior night, Norwin emerged victorious over Woodland Hills with a final score of 5-0.
“It’s tough to say goodbye,” Devito said, “but I know they are moving on to bigger and better things, so I am happy for them.”
Plans for after graduation range greatly among Norwin’s talented group of seniors, with some continuing to play soccer at the next level.
“I plan on playing soccer in college, but I am torn between a few schools at the moment,” said senior Carmella Simco.
Simco and her fellow senior, Julia Bursick, were named All WPIAL for girls soccer. The two of them were also named All Section for class 4A, along with juniors, Alexa Kobus, Bella Buscemi, and Cameryn Reed.
The Knights finished their 2024-2025 season with a final record of 9-8-1, improving dramatically from last year’s record of 3-14.
Although it wasn’t the final result they were hoping for, the future of girls soccer at Norwin looks bright in the eyes of Coach Devito.
“We have a ton of motivation and foundation to build on now,” said Devito. “I think we’re going to come back even better next year.”
