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Final Scoreboard: PIAA Boys Soccer Quarterfinal Round

PIAA Soccer Boys Quarterfinal Round

FINAL — 4A — Seneca Valley 6, State College 0 

FINAL — 2A — Deer Lakes  2, Karns City 0 (PSN Recap)

FINAL — 1A — Greensburg Central Catholic 3, Rockwood 2

FINAL — 3A —Mars 4, Holidaysburg 1

 

The four WPIAL boys soccer champions (Seneca Valley, Mars, Deer Lakes and Greensburg Central Catholic) continued their seasons on Saturday in the quarterfinal round of the PIAA soccer tournament — and each came away with a win to advance to the state semifinal round, to be played Tuesday.

 

Gameday Updates

Here are the match-ups on Tuesday (WPIAL teams are likely to be host and times are not yet confirmed)

  • 1A – Greensburg Central Catholic vs Brockway
  • 2A – Fairview at Deer Lakes 
  • 3A – Mars vs Cathedral Prep
  • 4A – Seneca Valley vs Cumberland Valley

Here’s the live feed to the audio broadcast from Matt Popchock at Deer Lakes …

We’ll provide gameday updates here as Matt Popchock will be at Deer Lakes at for Pittsburgh Soccer Now’s Featured Match with Audio Play-By-Play (we will add link here prior to match) as Deer Lakes takes on Karns City (at Noon).

Previews

Class 4A

12 Noon:  State College, District 6 champion (11-5) at Seneca Valley (14-1-1) 

It’s been a while since a boys program from the WPIAL won the PIAA’s highest classification title. Can this Seneca Valley team be the first since Peters Township in 2014 to win the state title? Seneca Valley is the last WPIAL school to play in the highest classification final (back when it was still 3A, when they lost to Central Bucks West, 2-0, in the 2015 final.

This year’s Seneca Valley squad has the depth to match any team we’ve seen at this level in a while, as they’ll go as deep as 18 to 20 players in each game. They were pushed to the limit in the WPIAL final, pulling out an exciting, 4-3 win in overtime to beat Peters Township, thanks to Beaux Lizewsk’s game-winner and hat trick.

No. 2-seed State College topped No. 1 Altoona 2-1 in the District 6 Class 4A championship game. The Little Lions used two second-half goals, from Jake Jeffries and Owen Hollobaugh (assisted by Davis Pagett) to be crowned District 6 champs. Unlike previous years, the District 6 champions would have to play the District 10 (Northwest) champs, Erie McDowell in a subregional final to determine who would earn a spot in the PIAA quarterfinal.

After playing to a 0-0 tie after two overtime periods, State College topped McDowell 4-2 in a PK shootout last Saturday to win the subregional faceoff.

Class 3A

4 pm       Holidaysburg, District 6 champion (8-5) at Mars (18-0) 

Mars earned an impressive WPIAL title win, in an overtime thriller, by knocking off a Franklin Regional team that lost only once against 3A competition in the past three years. Now, they’ll be taking on a two-time defending District 6 champs, Holidaysburg. Mars will look toward a balance scoring attack which turned things up a notch when trailing Franklin Regional early in the second half in the final.  They’ve had impressive playoff contributions from Dane Beller (7G, 2A), Tyler Nymberg (1G, 3A), Nabil Lahlou (1G, 1A) and Nicholas Porter (1G, 1A).  Mars’ Coach Chris Knauff won back-to-back WPIAL titles in 2007 and 2008 and the furthest the program advanced in the PIAA’s was to the final in 2007, where they lost to Palmyra, 2-0.

Hollidaysburg sported a balanced offensive attack that featured goals from four different players, and the Golden Tigers had a dominant 4-0 victory over Tyrone in its District championship game at Mansion Park last Thursday evening.

The second-seeded Golden Tigers (8-5) got goals from junior forwards Braden Callahan and Shushant Dahal, along with scores from junior midfielder Ryan Frank and senior forward Atticus Imhoff, while carving out a decisive 17-5 shots-on-goal edge over fourth-seeded Tyrone.

Class 2A

12 Noon   Karns City, District 5 champion (13-1-1) at Deer Lakes  (15-1) 

Fresh off its first-ever WPIAL title win, Deer Lakes will be looking to cap a fantastic run in the past three seasons. In 2018, with Michael Sullivan, Colton Spence and Devin Murray leading the way as sophomores, they built off a third-place WPIAL finish and made it all the way to the PIAA final, when they came up short with an OT loss to Fleetwood. Now, the Lancers will have a chance to return to the final, and this time they’ll have first overcome a group of Gremlins. Kidding aside, Karns City, may have one of the coolest nicknames I’ve ever seen for a high school, but they earned its trip to advance to the PIAA quarterfinal by beating Punxsutawney in the District 9/10 title game at Brockway’s Varischetti Field on November 4.

Class 1A

2 pm:       Greensburg Central Catholic (15-1) vs Rockwood, District 5 champion (18-0) at Norwin

Last Saturday, GCC captured yet another WPIAL championship, and its fifth overall by defeating section rival Winchester Thurston, 3-2.

FINAL: Greensburg Central Catholic 3, Winchester Thurston 2

The Centurions, for all its success in WPIAL playoffs, has never won a PIAA title, but have reached the state semifinals the last two seasons, each time losing to WPIAL rival (last year it was Winchester Thurston and in 2018, it was Avonworth).

Rockwood got to the state quarterfinal round by winning the District 5 title with a 3-2 overtime victory over McConnellsburg.

Jack Pletcher scored the game-winner on a header for the Rockets, who became district champs for the second time in three years. In the semifinals, Rockwood edged past Berlin Brothersvalley, 3-2.

PIAA Boys Playoff Schedule

Semifinal Round

  • Tuesday, November 17 
    • 1A – Greensburg Central Catholic vs Brockway
    • 2A – Fairview at Deer Lakes 
    • 3A – Mars vs Cathedral Prep
    • 4A – Seneca Valley vs Cumberland Valley

Championship Games 

  • Friday November 20  
    • 1:30 p.m.  – Boys 1A
    • 6:30 p.m. – Boys 3A
  • Saturday November 21
    • 1:30 p.m.  – Boys 2A
    • 6:30 p.m. – Boys 4A
Related Topics

John Krysinsky has covered soccer and other sports for many years for various publications and media outlets. He is also author of 'Miracle on the Mon' -- a book about the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, which chronicles the club, particularly the early years of Highmark Stadium with the narrative leading up to and centered around a remarkable match that helped provide a spark for the franchise. John has covered sports for Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, DK Pittsburgh Sports, Pittsburgh Sports Report, has served as color commentator on Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC broadcasts, and worked with OPTA Stats and broadcast teams for US Open Cup and International Champions Cup matches held in the US. Krysinsky also served as the Head Men’s Soccer Coach at his alma mater, Point Park University, where he led the Pioneers to the first-ever winning seasons and playoff berths (1996-98); head coach of North Catholic boys (2007-08), associate head coach of Shady Side Academy boys (2009-2014).

Glory on the Grass

Riverhounds MF Kenardo Forbes

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