By Josh Rizzo
SHALER TWP -- There was no hiding from the situation Tuesday night at Biles Field. The Shaler boys soccer team nearly conceded a two-goal lead and dropped a non-section game to Hampton.

While the the Titans scored twice in the final 9 minutes to score a 4-2 win, the members of Shaler's defense sought out coach Adam Hunter. If they didn't, Hunter would've addressed the situation quickly.

Both of Hampton's goals came from rocket shots, which were hit from close to Shaler goalie Matt Potock. Nick Bello scored for the Talbots (0-1) with 28 minutes remaining to cut the deficit to 2-1 by dribbling around the Titans defenders and depositing a shot past Potock.

Adam Zovko's 

"That was the whole point," Matt McAwley said. "To go into the second half with more fire. Looking to create more chances and get things on frame. We struggled in the first half to do that. In the second half, that was the main goal to put more shots on frame and test the goalkeeper. They did that well."

"It's something we talked about, they need to come out with the desire to do something and come back from a goal down," McAwley said. "I think they did that really well. It takes a different kind of animal to come from behind. Tonight, we were able to do that and things fell apart at the end."

"Play confident, that's actually twice they capitalized on goals where they dribbled around our backs and it was poor defending on our part," Hunter said. "They had two other opportunities where they dribbled across and we didn't step up and tackle. I don't know if it was afraid of getting penalty called against us or just a brain lapse, but our defenders are better than that."

​"I think communication is key," Jashinski said. "I don't see us talking much right now. I think once people start talking to each other and working together it will be easier."

"If you look at the second half, we were pinging passes around," Grzegorczyk said. "We were playing as a team, that would be nice to carry on."

By Josh Rizzo
​Looking at the results from Week One around the WPIAL and City League, it's easy to say the decision to play a game or have a scrimmage in Week Zero doesn't provide an advantage.

Teams from the WPIAL decided to have another scrimmage were 24-24 in their Week 1 games. In the city, Westinghouse and Perry both opened with wins after not playing games Week Zero.

Butler coach Rob Densmore didn't believe Penn Hills had an extra edge during its 54-21 win over the Golden Tornado due to the Indians' having played an extra game. The Indians never trailed in the teams' Northern Seven Conference opener and rushed for 419 yards.

"Honestly, I didn't factor that in at all," Densmore said. "I actually like the two scrimmages. It gives you a chance to work on what you need to work on. We went down to their Plum game and they played Plum well too. It's not like they were horrible at Plum and came out here ready to go."

Penn Hills beat Plum 26-0 at North Allegheny in Week Zero. Indians coach Jon LeDonne, who moved to 2-0 as Indians coach, was able to repair some holes in the line against the Mustangs.

"We had mishaps last week we needed to get corrected," LeDonne said. "We wanted to come out and correct the mishaps up front. Our offensive line did a good job rebounding from last week and knowing their responsibilities."

Overall, though, LeDonne didn't think the game gave them that big of an edges.

"The Week Zero game gives you an opportunity to get in a game-like situation," LeDonne said. "It really doesn't mean much beside playing four quarters of football in a game-like situation."

Here are some other news, notes and links from around the WPIAL and city:

LeDonne, who picked up his second win at Penn Hills last Friday, now has as many wins as he did in three years as Shaler coach. LeDonne was 2-27 with the Titans.

Franklin Regional landed one of several mild surprises Friday night. The Panthers 14-7 win sets up what should be a fun race in the Class 5A race between Franklin Regional, McKeesport, Penn-Trafford and Gateway. Read Paul Schofield's account of the game here. 

Bethel Park provided a non-conference shock, giving North Allegheny a 35-15 beatdown. After much-hand wringing over the imbalance in conference strength, it was good to see a Southeastern Conference team score a win. Read Sarah Spencer's story, here.

Aliquippa was back to business, beating down Beaver Falls 36-0. Unlike last year, don't expect a rematch at Heinz Field. Mike Bires covered the game.