PIAA Boys Soccer First Round Scoreboard (WPIAL / City League)

Photo courtesy Ed Thompson

PIAA Boys Soccer Tournament – First Round Schedule & Match Day Notes

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

First Round Schedule (WPIAL / City League Teams)

Tuesday, November 5

Class 1A

FINAL  Bentworth 1 Westmont Hilltop 0

FINAL   OLSH 1, Brockway 0

FINAL    Mercyhurst Prep 2, Eden Christian 1 

 

Class 2A

FINAL  Fairview 6, Deer Lakes 0

FINAL  Erie Cathedral Prep 3, South Park 1

FINAL  Avonworth 6, Bedford 1

Avonworth wins 1st round PIAA game vs Bedford, 6-1

Goals
Cody C (2)@CarmichaeRowan (2)@CalderJMahan
Alex H

Assists@natekline68 (2)@TuckerJere72690 @CalderJMahan
Cody C@MilojevicMaksim @pghsoccernow @PGSportsNow @TribLiveHSSN @AvonworthA

— Avonworth Boys Soccer (@AvonworthMsoc) November 6, 2024

Class 3A

FINAL Moon 2, Lampeter-Strasburg 1

FINAL  Franklin Regional 6, Bellefonte 0

FINAL: FR 6 BELLEFONTE 0

Sankoorikal ⚽️
Christafano ⚽️⚽️
Costa⚽️
Acosta⚽️
Bellefonte OG@BillBeckner@WestmorelandSN@county_coaches@TribWestmoreCo@TribLiveHSSN@pghsoccernow#WPIALSoccer pic.twitter.com/KLvawKxxZw

— FR Men’s Soccer (@mens_fr) November 6, 2024

FINAL: Conrad Weiser 4, Mars 0

FINAL  Allderdice 1, General McLane 0

FT And the Alderdice Dragons advance!

With a fairly commanding 1-0 performance, they advance past General McLane.

3A quarterfinal is scheduled for Saturday against winner of Moon and Lampeter Strasberg.@DiceBoysSoccer @pghsoccernow

— Soccer Rabbi (@soccer_rabbi) November 6, 2024

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

Class 4A

FINAL:  Fox Chapel 3,  Mechanicsburg 0

FINAL: Plum 0, McDowell 0 (Plum wins PK shootout)

Boys Soccer Final – PKs

Plum 1
McDowell 0

PK Goals – Gage Adinolfi, Bryce Bobich, Andy Strasser, Christian Alter, Noah Smith

Chase Eber with the game-winning save@plumboroughsd @RafalKolankows1 @TribLiveHSSN @pghsoccernow @PatMcAfeeShow

— Plum Athletics (@PlumAthletics) November 6, 2024

PIAA BOYS SOCCER TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (2024)

Quarterfinals

WPIAL / City League teams in bold

Saturday, November 9 

Class 1A

Bentworth vs Mercyhurst Prep

OLSH vs McConnellsville

Class 2A

Avonworth vs Fairview

Class 3A

Moon vs Allderdice

Franklin Regional vs Mars 

Class 4A

Fox Chapel vs Warwick

Plum vs Cumberland Valley

Semi-Finals

Tuesday, November 12

Finals

Friday November 15

Boys and Girls Class 1A / 3A Finals

Saturday November 16

Boys and Girls Class 2A / 4A Finals

Game Day Notes

Of the remaining teams from the WPIAL and the one City League team (Allderdice) — some schools have past success in the PIAA tournament and for some, it’s new and/or rare territory.  Teams winning WPIAL (District 7) titles this past weekend at Highmark Stadium, will have the advantage of starting the state tournament at or near home, while many of the second place teams are heading out on the road.

Stepping foot outside of District competition can bring a lot of variables.  Typically WPIAL teams fare well in the first two rounds, but as the tournament endures, we’ll truly see how each District classification stacks up against some of the other parts and top teams in the Commonwealth.

On paper, it would appear that Moon and Bentworth are two teams that have the best shot to reach Mechanicsburg.  They’re the only two WPIAL schools remaining without a loss or a draw, though both were pushed a bit in the WPIAL playoffs.

Despite winning seven WPIAL titles, Moon has never won a PIAA title, finishing as a runner-up three times (1985, 2004, 2006).

Another interesting storyline on the boys side — Allderdice enters the proper tournament representing District 8, having won the Subregional playoff against Dubios last week.

WPIAL / PIAA High School Soccer Scoreboard (10/30/2024): Allderdice, Mars and Deer Lakes advance to PIAA tournament

Allderdice were competing as a provisional member in the WPIAL from 2011-2023, but change in PIAA rules now requires the Pittsburgh City Schools teams (in District 8), to now compete and qualify separately for the PIAA.  The last two times Allderdice were the District 8 representative in the PIAA tournament were back in 2008 and 2011, when they lost in the first round to Peters Township (4-0) and Upper St Clair (2-0).  Schenley (now Obama Academy) also made the PIAA tournament in 2009 and 2010.

Two time defending WPIAL Champs, South Park (2A) and Bentworth (1A) came up short last year in the PIAA playoffs, as South Park were eliminated in the first round by District 10 runner-up, General McLane.  This year, they’ll have to face a school that made it to the Final a year ago, Cathedral Prep.

From the 11 WPIAL teams entered in the four Boys tournaments, Mars is the last to win a WPIAL title, in 2020.  Chris Knauff’s squad this year, lost in the WPIAL Semifinal round to Franklin Regional, but will be a tough out for any team to beat as they’re a very good defensive team.

Comeback Kids: Mars boys rally to beat Northern York, 2-1, to capture first-ever PIAA title

Good luck to @AvonworthA, @BentworthSD, @DeerLakesAth, Eden Christ. Acad., @FxCAthletics, @FRPantherSports, @MASDFP, @MoonTigersAD, @OLSH_HighSchool, @PlumAthletics, & @SPSD_Athletics competing in the @PIAASports Boys' Soccer Championships!#WPIAL | ⚽️🏆 | @PennWestUniv pic.twitter.com/nqBfa2CBMN

— WPIAL (@wpial7) November 5, 2024

 

Here’s a snapshot of WPIAL teams history in the tournament:

1A

• Bentworth – Last appearance (2023) — lost in Semifinal to Charleroi  
• OLSH – Last appearance (2011) —  Beat Bishop McCort, lost to Sewickley Academy
• Eden Christian — Last appearance (2023) — Beat Seneca, lost to Winchester Thurston

2A

• South Park – Two-Time PIAA Champions (2005, 2006); Last appearance (2023) — Lost in first round to General McLane
• Avonworth – last played in the PIAA Final in 2018 (Runner-up).
• Deer Lakes – played in PIAA Finals in 2018 and 2020. (2x Runner-up).  Lost in First Round in 2020

3A

• Moon – Having won seven District titles, Moon has appeared in PIAA tournament many times, with one Runner-Up placement (1987) and have never won a State title on boys side.
• Franklin Regional – in its last PIAA appearance, in 2021, made it to Quarterfinal Round (loss to Hampton).  Made back-to-back PIAA Semifinal appearances in 2018 and 2019.
• Mars – Numerous PIAA tournament appearances. Only PIAA Title came in 2020.
• Allderdice – Allderdice were competing as a provisional member in the WPIAL from 2011-2023, but change in PIAA rules now requires the Pittsburgh City Schools teams (in District 8), to now compete and qualify separately for the PIAA.  The last two times Allderdice were the District 8 representative in the PIAA tournament were back in 2008 and 2011, when they lost in the first round to Peters Township (4-0) and Upper St Clair (2-0).  Schenley (now Obama Academy) also made the PIAA tournament in 2009 and 2010.

 4A

• Fox Chapel – Only PIAA Title came in 1990. Also have another PIAA Finals appearance (1987).  Last played in the tournament in 2015, when losing in the Quarterfinal Round (losing to Springfield Delco, 2-1).
• Plum – the Mustangs lone deep run in the PIAA tournament came the same year of their only WPIAL Finals appearance — as they made it to the PIAA Semifinal round that year, losing to WC Henderson, 1-0.