As the crowe flies: hempfield senior midfielder braden crowe scores twice to help spartans knock off penn hills

Hempfield's Braden Crowe (No. 10) walks over to celebrate with Anton Weidinger (No. 20) after converting a penalty kick in the first half of Hempfield's 2-1 Section 1-4A win over Penn Hills Tuesday night at Nate Ferraco Memorial Field. Josh Rizzo/Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges

PENN HILLS - Braden Crowe’s approach to taking penalty kicks doesn’t waiver based on past results. The Hempfield senior midfielder stuck to his routine Tuesday night at Nate Ferraco Memorial Field.

The Spartans senior midfielder converted two penalty kicks to help Hempfield stay in the Section 1-4A playoff race with a 2-1 win over Penn Hills. Indians’ 6-foot-8 keeper Jadon Robbins got a piece of Crowe’s first attempt, lunging to the right and tipping the ball before it spun into the net.

“I have a routine and I usually stick to that,” Crowe said. “I feel like I need to switch it up. If that's what I have to do, I’ll do it. But most of the time I just stick to my routine.”

Hempfield coach Michael Crowe believes Braden has always had a steady approach to take shots from the spot. When Braden first came into the program, he was tasked with taking those kinds of shots for Hempfield.

“The senior captains his freshman year voted to have him take the penalties for us,” Michael said. “He’s been doing it for four years and has been doing a fantastic job of it.”

Hempfield (4-9, 2-5) needed to be opportunistic in a game between two sides that needed a result. The Spartans focused primarily on countering and applied sporadic pressure to Penn Hills’ backline.

Anton Weidinger helped open the game up for Hempfield. He collided with Penn Hills defender Aiden Quirk in the box and the Spartans were awarded a penalty kick in the 27th minute.

Indians coach Kevin Truman wasn’t happy about either penalty that was awarded. Truman was given a yellow card for comments to the officials in the second half. One of the Penn Hills assistant coaches earned a red card for yelling at the official following the match.

​“I’d prefer not to comment,” Truman said. “On the second one, it looked like he fell down. Until I watch the video, I’m not really going to know.”
While Crowe’s first penalty kick gave Hempfield the momentum, it didn’t last for long. Penn Hills forward Oshea Ward got on the end of a cross and evened the game up about two minutes later.

Truman was happy with how Ward stepped up. Penn Hills was playing without leading scorer Jesse Truman. The Indians (3-9-1,1-6) have struggled to find the net in section play, scoring five goals in seven matches.

“Oshea is a good, quality player and he’s quiet, but extremely talented,” Kevin Truman said. “I told the guys before the game we need a grinder goal.”

Penn Hills got a jolt of energy from Ward’s goal, but couldn’t find a way to break through.Things got harder when the Indians conceded another penalty kick 13 minutes into the second half.

Braden Crowe punched it past Robbins to give Hempfield the lead.

The second kick was more emphatic than the first, but the motion was largely the same.

“I think about it,” Crowe said. “But the keeper is thinking he’s not going to go to the same spot twice. So, I went to the same spot.”

The Spartans, who beat Penn Hills 1-0 earlier this season, didn’t allow the Indians to get many second-half scoring chances. 
Hempfield didn’t have many good opportunities, either. The Spartans’ best chance to extend the lead came when Braden volleyed a shot over the crossbar with seven minutes remaining.

The Spartans dug in defensively to get a win.

“I thought our backline was fantastic all night,” Michael Crowe said.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.