WPIAL Boys Soccer — Class 4A — Section 2
North Allegheny (2-0-0, 0-0-0 in section)
at
Pine-Richland (1-0-1, 0-0-0 in section)
Watch/Listen on Pittsburgh Soccer Now YouTube Channel
Preview
Section play begins for Section 1 rivals North Allegheny and Pine-Richland on Thursday evening as Pittsburgh Soccer Now‘s Matt Popchock will be on the call with the play-by-play on PSN’s YouTube channel and Ed Thompson will provide photography from Pine-Richland Stadium.
North Allegheny and Pine-Richland kick off another season of what should continue to be brutal competition in what many believe is WPIAL’s most difficult and challenging section from top to bottom.
North Allegheny, with long-time coach Bobby Vosmaer at the helm, finished second to WPIAL and PIAA champions Seneca Valley in 2020.
Pine-Richland have been trying to turn things around, but getting back to the playoffs has been a challenge in this grueling section since Jordan Wiegand took over the program in 2019.
Wiegand’s had success in building Deer Lakes (twice) and North Catholic into perennial contenders. He’s now confident that the Rams are ready to challenge for one of the top four spots in Section 1.
“Its been a struggle. It takes time to instill a winning culture. We’re still young in many positions. But this year’s group is great. We’re all on the same page.”
Wiegand boasts the return of seven starters, including three seniors.
“Its a matter of time before we break through, and I’m hopeful that this is the year.”
Wiegand said that playing NA is always a tough match because they can possess but also be successful by playing direct.
In non-section play over the weekend, NA easily defeated Southmorelandand Latrobe while Pine-Richland faced lower classification contenders North Catholic (3-0 win) and Winchester Thurston (2-2 draw).
Looking Back:
In 2019, we spotlighted the Tigers-Rams rivalry in a PSN Featured Game at the end of the 2019 season.
this section, no game is a gimme,” Bobby Vosmaer, North Allegheny’s coach, said. “They (Pine-Richland) showed why they’ve done a good job, from where they started this season.”