It came down to Butler Catholic and St. Alphonsus in the fall and in the spring, so why should the championship game be any different?

The two schools, both members of the Pittsburgh Diocese for seventh and eighth graders, have battled for the league's soccer championship twice during the recent school year.

On May 30, The Saints took St. Alphonsus, based in Wexford, to a 0-0 tie through a 60-minute regulation and a 5-minute sudden death before losing in a 3-2 shootout at Youthtowne Fields in Clinton Township.

St. Alphonsus had edged the Saints 2-1 in the fall championship game and handed Butler Catholic its lone spring regular-season loss, 5-3.

Both teams appeared to be on a collision course again for the spring final.

"Absolutely. My expectation was to go to the finals and play St. Alphonsus, our nemesis," said Saints coach Raj Sawhney. "We lost to them in the fall and, hopefully, we were going to make it back and play them again."

The fact Butler Catholic and St. Alphonsus reached the finals was one thing, but St. Alphonsus boasts a powerhouse lineup of soccer experience.

"On our team, we have three Classic League Cup players and we have three players who have never played soccer and started," said Sawhney, "and (St. Alphonsus) has 11 Cup players.

"Going into the finals, we were overmatched, but I told the kids, 'This is your last hurrah, so play 100 percent and go out and play like you can win,'" Sawhney added.

The Saints (9-2, 7-1) did and then some, forcing a shootout to settle the match. Kyle Boyer and Matt Pintell accounted for Butler Catholic's shootout goals while goalie Levi Leyland matched his counterpart until the very end.

To reach the finals, two six-team sections battle for three playoff spots within their respective sections.

Three teams from Section 1 and three from Section 2 play in a quarterfinal round, which Butler Catholic won 4-2, then downed St. Elizabeth 1-0 in the semifinals.

Having lost to St. Alphonsus in the regular season, the approach wasn't much different despite a big change in the scoring.

"The way we approached it was we wanted to cover everyone on the field, to not let them get an uncontested shot," said Sawhney. "The kids played unbelievable."

With the bulk of players from this year's team in the eighth grade, Sawhney, who just finished his fourth year at the helm, knows others will be able to step in.

"Hopefully, the team will do as well or try and get back in the playoffs again."

Team members of the Saints also included Dan Cleary, Emma Preston, Ian McNany, Szalay Miller, Natalie Barkus, Tyler Widenhofer, Crysta Lewis, Gabriell Carney, Angela McKnight, Tori Sawhney, Megan Hegedus, Morgan McLaughlin, Maggie Emrick, Eva Kernic, Kailey Keep, Tyler Protivnak, Keenan Barlow and Olivia Wiest.

Sawhney was assisted by Steve Boyer and Chris Cleary.