Allderdice Boys power past McLane 1-0 in PIAA First Round

On a night when the eyes of the nation were on Allegheny and Erie counties to see who might be the next president of the United States, the eyes of hundreds of parents and fans from Edinboro and Pittsburgh were on the PIAA Boys 3A First Round battle between District 8 champs Taylor Allderdice and District 10 victors from General McLane High School.

Allderdice have endured a strange but (and?) wonderful season; wonderful because the Dragons went 13 -1-4 (WTL) and won the PPS City Championship. Strange because Dice expected to earn a bid to the WPIAL District 7 playoffs after having played the bulk of their matches in WPIAL 3A; but a previously unnoticed rule, passed by PIAA in 2022 was unexpectedly used midseason to remove Allderdice and Obama Academy from the conference. All WPIAL teams that played Obama and Allderdice had their victories declared ‘non-league’ wins. Op-eds were written. Petitions were drafted. Hands were wrung. But ultimately, WPIAL moved on without Allderdice, and Allderdice advanced to the state playoffs, beginning with a play-in victory against Dubois on at Cupples Stadium on October 30.

Tuesday night, the Dragons broke out of the gate quickly and scored in just the 3rd minute. On a pass from the central attack,#22 Ethan Voight-Cherna slotted home a goal low and to the right past McLane’s keeper to jump out to a 1-0 lead.

3’ I just set up at the end line and Dice has a goal!

1-0 in their first round PIAA playoff game.@DiceBoysSoccer @pghsoccernow pic.twitter.com/3YKXSJqcQF

— Soccer Rabbi (@soccer_rabbi) November 5, 2024

After a few additional opportunities for Dice, including a near-goal in the 19th minute that McLean keeper Jonny Kavelish put a tidy claim on.

Midway through the first half, McLane organized themselves into Dice’s final third and worked the ball around from side to side, searching for a way through the organized defensive lines of the Dragons. But Allderdice cleared the ball time and time again, and a three or four minute stretch of pressure by McLane ultimately ended with neither a shot on goal nor a corner for the visiting Lancers.

23’ McLane with sustained pressure for about 3 minutes now in their final third. Can’t record a shot tho as Dic keeps clearing it. @pghsoccernow

— Soccer Rabbi (@soccer_rabbi) November 5, 2024

The Dragons went into the half with the lead, but also with the Lancers starting to bang on the door with some opportunities at the close of the half.

HT 1-0 Alderdice Dragons lead the McLane Lancers. Match tightened up for sure, so we’ll see what the coaches do to change things up at the break.@pghsoccernow @DiceBoysSoccer

— Soccer Rabbi (@soccer_rabbi) November 5, 2024

Allderdice’s head coach did indeed make some adjustments at the half, and they were certainly effective. The Dragons came out of the half making run after run through the middle of McLane’s midfield and into the box.

Changes seem mostly to be about runs and 1-2s thru the middle for Dice. They keep dribbling straight at the back line, and McLane is really battling to contain.

Dice has had some chances but hasn’t finished them. https://t.co/SGrHNDn5Bd

— Soccer Rabbi (@soccer_rabbi) November 6, 2024

From around minute 59 to the final whistle, it seemed like Allderdice were in full command of the match. While the Dragons midfielders #10 Aiden Thomas and #8 Jacek Piekut continually forced their opponents to backpedal as they cut and weaved their way through the midfield and played little 1-2 combos to their teammates. Defensively, defenders #9 Niv Friedman and #5 Jack Cohen tackled and cleared everything McLane put near them. The Lancers overwhelming played direct long balls as the game wore on, but struggled to connect passes in order to generate danger or chances.

77’ McLane lumping up hopeful bombs to the box. Dice simply needs to see this one out.

— Soccer Rabbi (@soccer_rabbi) November 6, 2024

In the end, indeed, Allderdice would see the match out for a 1-0 win. Other than that stretch of committed pressure in the mid-first half, Dice were firmly in command of this match throughout.

The Dragons advance to face Moon High School, which advanced past Lampeter-Strasburg 2-1. Moon, the WPIAL District 7 Champions, finished the season with a 22-0-0 record. Dice did not face Moon in the 2024 season, but they did play Franklin Regional twice during the Fall and were defeated both times, 2-0 and 5-0. Franklin Regional upset Moon in the 2023 WPIAL playoffs quarterfinals, 2-1 in OT, but Moon did return the favor in the WPIAL Final, as the Tigers defeated the Panthers with a commanding 3-1 win.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.