WPIAL Girls Soccer Class 4A and 1A Semifinal Round (10/31/2022)

WPIAL Class 1A

Class 1A Bracket

Monday, October 31, 2022 – Semifinal Round 

FINAL:  Springdale 5, Waynesburg Central 0 

FINAL:  Freedom 4,  Greensburg Central Catholic 3 (OT)

Friday, November 4, 2022  – Championship Game at Highmark Stadium 

#2 Springdale (16-3-0) vs #1 Freedom (16-4-0)

SEMIFINAL ROUND PREVIEW (Girls 4A and 1A) 

In Class 4A, all of the top seeds advanced, setting up a pair of rubber matches between section rivals when Mt. Lebanon and Peters Township face off, as well as Seneca Valley and North Allegheny.

Even though Mt. Lebanon pulled through with a first place finish in Section 2, they did so with two losses, both coming to Peters.  Can the Blue Devils prevail in the third go-around between section rivals? If one thing is certain, they both have plenty of attacking firepower against each other. In the first two games, they’ve combined for 13 goals, with Peters winning by 4-3 and 4-2 margins.

Seneca Valley and North Allegheny split the season series in a pair of tight contests, with the Raiders winning at home 2-1 in September, while the Tigers picked up a shutout victory in October, 1-0.

The Class 1A bracket has been a bit more unpredictable, with both the fifth and sixth seeded teams, Greensburg Central Catholic and Waynesburg Central pulling off impressive quarterfinal round wins, despite lower seeding. GCC defeated No. 4 seed and Section 3 champions Chartiers Valley by a 6-1 scoreline, the same final as their first round win vs Riverside.  Waynesburg Central beat Aquinas Academy 1-0, the topped No. 3 seed Winchester Thurston, 2-1 in the quarterfinal round.

Still, Freedom and Springdale have advanced, with some challenges already, and will now have to face programs that have won WPIAL titles in recent years.  Freedom have outscored playoff competition 13-2 thus far, and their only losses this season came when playing up in class.  Springdale clawed their way to early round playoff wins over Sewickely Academy (3-2) and Mohawk (2-0), but with two wins vs Greensburg Central Catholic this season, they’ve proven they can beat top teams in this classification.

The Greensburg Central Catholic – Freedom showdown feels more like a No. 1 vs 2 clash. It is a rematch of last season’s semifinal, when GCC outlasted Freedom, 4-3.  Look out for GCC’s Riley Kerr, who has been having an outstanding sophomore season. She scored twice in last year’s match.