WPIAL Girls Soccer Class 1A First Round Playoff Schedule and Match Snippets

This is an intriguing 7-10 match-up. OLSH reached the WPIAL final in 2020, and some of those key underclassmen from that team are now seniors who bring plenty of experience to this year’s playoffs.  Waynesburg Central also has WPIAL final history, winning the district title in 2017, when in Class 2A.

Greensburg Central Catholic has been at or near the top of Girls 1A since its inception, however, despite some intense competition in section with Riverview and Springdale and roster challenges, they still can’t be overlooked, finishing with 10-2 record, including three straight wins to close out the regular season.  South Allegheny can be tough to score upon, as they only allowed 16 goals in section play, and 21 in all competitions.

Springdale made it to the WPIAL Final last season, and this year, they’re sitting back at 6 seed, as they finished third in Section 1 due to a couple of late season losses to GCC and Riverview. Sewickley Academy has played in some of the highest scoring matches this season (7-6 loss in Extra Time to 2A Ambridge had to be something).

Winchester Thurston finished section play unbeaten, with only three losses coming against teams from higher classifications, yet the WPIAL soccer committee felt they still have something to prove, as a No. 4 seed.

Always feel bad for both Riverside and Riverview — as many people often get them mixed up.  Riverside (out of Beaver County), have lost five of their last six, but do boast a win in that stretch against playoff-bound Eden Christian.

Charleroi has nearly matched its boys program with an impressive 14-2 mark overall, and a section title.  Before closing out the season with a loss to 3A quarterfinalist Elizabeth Forward, Charleroi ran off nine straight wins.

Colin Williams’ squad from Freedom are the defending WPIAL champions, and are ready for another run at the top. Freedom closed out the regular season with 11 straight wins. Ellis has one of the nicest fields in the entire Pittsburgh area — and too bad we can’t see more HS playoff games on that pitch.  After winning five straight in  the middle of the season, Ellis is winless (0-3-2) in its last five.

At one point this season, Chartiers-Houston won eight matches in a row, and they’ve won two in a row to finish the season, so they may be in better form than EC, who finished the season with very competitive losses to two 1A section champs (Freedom and Riverview) and a non-section friendly vs Deer Lakes.

Riverview, led by Pitt commit Lola Abraham, has never won a section title and this will also be their first time as No. 1 overall seed.  Aquinas has gone 2-1-1 in its last four, and have been very competitive in its matches with playoff bound teams.