WPIAL (PIAA District 7) soccer playoffs resumed Monday with semifinal round contests.
Here’s our thread for GIRLS CLASS 4A.
The top two seeds, Seneca Valley and Peters Township walked away from Fox Chapel High School with victories and now have a date with destiny at Highmark Stadium.
The Raiders took control early with an early brace from Madeline Marcotte, then cruised to a 4-1 win.
In the later game, Peters Township found a second half equalizer from Amanda Pirosko, then won it in extra time with a golden goal from Cailin Martin.
Thanks so much for your support of our site and helping us grow the game in our region. You can become a subscriber to Pittsburgh Soccer Now, by clicking here.
Semifinal Round Schedule
both matches will be played at Fox Chapel High School
FINAL: Seneca Valley 4, Canon-McMillan 1
FINAL: Peters Township 2, North Allegheny 1
Match Day Updates
https://twitter.com/RachaelKriger/status/1851086234963050751
GOAL, Peters Township!
Amanda Pirosko scores with nine minutes left in the second half. It's a tied game between Peters Township and North Allegheny. Oh boy! #WPIAL @PGSportsNow @wpialsoccernews
— Rachael Kriger (@RachaelKriger) October 29, 2024
The Raiders win! @SenecaValleySHS defeats Canon Mac, 4-1, to secure a spot in the #WPIAL Class 4A Championship! They’ll play the winner of North Allegheny/Peters Township. @PGSportsNow @wpial7 @wpialsoccernews @pghsoccernow pic.twitter.com/r17xu2Mspd
— Rachael Kriger (@RachaelKriger) October 29, 2024
6:58 GOAL, @SenecaValleySHS!
WOW. From 25 yards out, Madeline Marcotte gets her 2nd goal of the game. Didn't see who got the assist but man, that thing floated. Hit the hands of Canon Mac goalkeeper Skyler Smith, but she couldn't hang out. Seneca leads 2-0.@PGSportsNow #WPIAL
— Rachael Kriger (@RachaelKriger) October 28, 2024
12:45 GOAL, @SenecaValleySHS!
Madeline Marcotte, junior midfielder, finds the back of the net for the Raiders! The momentum has been all Seneca for the last 15 minutes. Assist goes to senior defender Giuliana DiTullio. Seneca leads, 1-0. #WPIAL @PGSportsNow @wpialsoccernews
— Rachael Kriger (@RachaelKriger) October 28, 2024
Match Day Notes (Girls Class 4A)
There Will Be A New Champion!
That’s right! With Fox Chapel has moved down in classification (to 3A), that means we’ll have a new WPIAL Girls Class 4A champion this year.
Down to the Final Four — and the field appears to be pretty wide open.
After seeing how things have shaken out in the first two rounds — that’s absolutely the case. There’s a lot of high level talent spread around and many teams with solid depth, so the right team (like Fox Chapel did last year) could get hot and make a deep run to the Finals.
Still, Peters Township and Seneca Valley have been impressive as the top two seeds, they haven’t completely dominated the competition, but they did pull out tightly contested, shut out wins in the quarterfinal round.
Could that hot team be No. 6 seed Canon McMillan?
The Big Macs coasted to a comfortable win against Hempfield, then used the confidence they found in that victory to roll to a 3-1 win vs No. 3 Penn-Trafford on Thursday.
Matt Fonagy’s squad led by All-WPIAL standouts Emilee Tonkovich, Lilly Bane, Sarah Coffman and a balanced scoring attack, have shown they can play with anyone in this classification.
Peters finished the season without a loss, and only one blemish in a 2-2 tie with a talented and a more complete Upper St. Clair squad on Sept. 11.
The Indians have been very well organized out of the back, with keeper Molly Kubistek posting 13 clean sheets — while their team defense has limited opponents to eight goals — including a shutout win on Thursday against Pine-Richland. With Taylor McCullough (12), Julia Spergel (11) and Paige Malley (10) leading a balanced attack, Head Coach Pat Vereb could be lifting another trophy in his 25th season coaching.
No. 2 Seneca Valley is also coached by another longtime WPIAL soccer coaching icon, Mark Perry, who was recently inducted into the A-K Valley Hall of Fame. On Thursday, Seneca Valley had enough to fend a challenge from an Upper St Clair on Thursday, in the 51st minute, SV junior midfielder Maddie Marcotte found Karly Majeski, just on the edge of the box. Majeski’s perfectly placed strike was the difference in a very tight contest. Cassie Leonard is the Raiders leading scorer with 12 goals, while Ashlee Libby and Majeski recieved All-WPIAL honors.
Seneca Valley’s lone loss to a WPIAL team came in a very tight, 2-1 contest back in August to Peters Township.
Lurking as always is North Allegheny, who seem to be getting better as the season has evolved. The Tigers have the recent pedigree, playing in the WPIAL Final four times in the last five years, winning three titles during that stretch. The Tigers placed second in Section 3 and allowed only 13 goals in 17 games.
During the regular season, North Allegheny dropped a 1-0 decision to No. 2 seed Seneca Valley, then played a scoreless tie with the Raiders in the second half of section play.
The Tigers survived their first stern test when outlasted Mt. Lebanon, 3-2, in a pretty open-ended affair.
Now, the Tigers, last year’s runner up, will face top seeded Peters in what should be a fantastic match.
Last Five WPIAL Girls Class 4A Champions
- 2023 – Fox Chapel
- 2022 – North Allegheny
- 2021 – Moon
- 2020 – North Allegheny
- 2019 – North Allegheny
Updated Bracket
WPIAL Girls Soccer Class 4A Playoff Results
Quarterfinal Round (Thursday, October 24)
FINAL: Peters Township 2, Pine-Richland 0
FINAL:Seneca Valley 1, Upper St. Clair 0
FINAL: Canon-McMillan 3, Penn-Trafford 1
FINAL: North Allegheny 3, Mt. Lebanon 2
First Round (Monday, October 21)
Canon McMillan 11, Hempfield 0
Pine-Richland 3, Latrobe 2
Upper St Clair 3, Butler 1
Mt. Lebanon 0, Norwin 0 (Mt. Lebanon wins in PK shootout)
WPIAL Girls Class 4A Leading Scorers
Cecelia Wolford, Butler — 18
Alexis Brown, Penn-Trafford — 17
Grace Ferency, Bethel Park — 15
Callee DalBon, Bethel Park — 14
Julia Bursick, Norwin — 14
Jiana Patterson, Hempfield — 14
Robin Reilly, Latrobe — 14
Cassie Leonard, Seneca Valley — 12
Taylor McCullough, Peters Township — 12
Julia Spergel, Peters Township — 11
Geli Dent, Latrobe — 10
Sierra Dupre, Upper St. Clair — 10
Meredith Huzjak, Upper St. Clair — 10
Paige Malley, Peters Township — 10
Kieran Shannon, North Allegheny — 10
Mary Vargo, Baldwin — 10
River Hendrych Bondra, Bethel Park — 10