WPIAL Girls Soccer Class 2A First Round Playoff Schedule and Match Day Notes

The postseason continues!

Tuesday will bring more first round playoff matches in WPIAL Soccer – with Class 2A and Class 1A Girls along with Class 4A boys kicking off their respective tournaments.

This is the thread for Girls Class 2A first round.  Look for updates / scores to be posted here later.

WPIAL Girls Class 2A First Round Playoff Schedule

 Click on links at bottom of page to find team rosters courtesy of WPIAL where applicable

6 p.m.

Shady Side Academy at Beaver Area

6:30 p.m.

Burrell vs Keystone Oaks at Dormont Stadium

McGuffey at Mount Pleasant

Avonworth at Deer Lakes

8:00 p.m.

Belle Vernon at Freeport

Yough vs North Catholic at Freedom

Southmoreland at Quaker Valley

Central Valley at South Park

Match Day Notes

A wide open field?   

The classification has been dominated by an impressive three-year run from Avonworth, who are still in the field, but following the loss of its senior standout, Fiona Mahan, the ‘Lopes have fallen a bit in the standings this season, placing third in section behind upstarts Beaver Area (No. 3 overall seed) and Quaker Valley (No. 2 overall seed).   With Beaver and Quaker Valley earning high seeds, the WPIAL committee obviously thinks highly of that section.

Still, this could be the year that Mt. Pleasant and Head Coach Rich Garland put it all together.  The Vikings completed an unbeaten campaign in Section play and against 2A competition, only had one loss all season, to Class 4A Penn-Trafford.  The Vikings posted a goal differential of +86 this season, so they’ve been pretty dominant.  South Park also finished unbeaten in Section 1, but as they always do, stepped out of their comfort zone, playing tough competition again, with its losses coming in tight matches vs Beaver Area, Mt. Pleasant, Burrell and non-WPIAL Erie McDowell in their season opening tournament.  If anything, the Eagles are battle tested and will be a very tough out.

Beaver’s had a stellar season with an experienced group coached by Nick Crivelli, who joined us on the Kids on the Pitch podcast after the brackets were released last week.

Kids on the Pitch Podcast: WPIAL Boys and Girls Soccer Playoff Brackets are out (Part II w/ Beaver Area’s Nick Crivelli, OLSH’s Paige Petroval & Pine-Richland’s Jordan Wiegand)

Senior midfielder Lilia Battalini provided the spark for the attack for a Beaver squad that showed this season they were ready to take a step forward.  The Bobcats shared Section 3 title with Quaker Valley, who didn’t give an inch for most of the season, posting 12 clean sheets.  The Quakers earned the No. 2 seed likely because since their loss to Beaver in September, they’ve rattled off nine straight wins, including taking the rematch with the Bobcats.

Earning the No. 5 seed, Freeport have good, young talent. Sophomore forward Cam Woods is a solid scoring threat, while they also defended well en route to their second straight Section 2 title — as they’re clearly battle-tested and ready for tight postseason matches as they’ve beaten Burrell twice in overtime and turned things around section when they defeated previously unbeaten North Catholic, 4-2.  Still, no playoff match will be easy, as Freeport will face Head Coach Tracy Lovett’s Belle Vernon squad that contended in Section 1 this season, playing South Park tough in the rematch (losing 2-1).

Burrell made quite a run to the semifinals last year, and they have Miley Kariotis and Maggie Nesko back from that team, as they were very much in the thick of their section title race all season, but will now have to travel to Dormont Stadium to face a feisty Keystone Oaks squad that finished tied for second behind South Park in section one.

We’ve gone this far and haven’t mentioned two programs which have had enormous success in recent years and were last year’s Class 2A Finalists: Avonworth and Shady Side Academy.   Crivelli said he will have his Beaver Area team prepared for a tough challenge from Shady Side, who finished with a very rare losing record (6-9-1, 4-5-1 in section) but still posted a goal differential of +

Rosters

John Krysinsky

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).