The WPIAL Boys and Girls Soccer playoff tournaments are down to the Final Four in each classification. On Monday night, on the girls’ side, the Girls Class 4A and Class 3A semifinal round matches will be played.
Be sure to follow along here with the latest updates, highlights and scores.
Monday WPIAL Girls Playoff Soccer Schedule / Scoreboard
4A
FINAL: #5 North Allegheny 1, #1 Peters Twp 0
FINAL #2 Seneca Valley 0, #3 Norwin 0, (Seneca Valley wins in PK shootout)
Championship Game — #2 Seneca Valley vs #5 North Allegheny – Highmark Stadium (Date/Time TBA)
3A
FINAL: #1 Fox Chapel 2, Plum 1
FINAL: #2 South Fayette 4, #3 Moon 1
Championship Game — #1 Fox Chapel vs #2 South Fayette – Highmark Stadium (Date/Time TBA)
Social Media Highlights
The winners will advance to the WPIAL Finals to be played at Highmark Stadium.
GIRLS 4A Match Capsules
Semifinal Round (Monday, October 27) and Match Capsules
6;30 p.m. #3 Norwin vs #2 Seneca Valley (at North Allegheny)
How They Got Here: Norwin def Mt. Lebanon 1-0 (AET2); Seneca Valley def Upper St Clair, 1-0 (AET)
Norwin had a bounce-back campaign, with an unbeaten record in Section 1, after losing two of its first three matches. The Knights didn’t lose again until the last match of the season against 3A top seed, Fox Chapel. Another big win for Norwin did come out of section, when they defeated Class 3A power Plum, 2-1 in extra time on Sept. 27. On Thursday, Leesia Phetsomphou lifted the Knights into the semifinal round with a Golden Goal (the match was :46 from going to penalties) to defeat Mt. Lebanon.
Seneca Valley has continued is strong winning tradition under the guidance of one of the WPIAL all-time top coaches, Mark Perry.
Perry steered SV to a WPIAL runner-up finish in 2024 only to lose to Peters Township in a Final decided on penalty kicks. With Karly Majeski, an All-State midfielder, leading the way this year, they have their sights set on winning the entire thing.
As one coach told PSN, “She (Majeski) is aggressive, fast, and always on the loose ball. You have to know where she is at all times.”
“Karly has been our best player in every game this year so far,” Perry told PSN in Coaches Corner in September.
“Haven’t seen a player better than her in the games we have played. Has scored a goal in eight of our (first) 10 games while being tightly marked in each.”
Maddie Marcotte scored the game-winner for Seneca Valley in Thursday’s quarterfinal round win in Extra Time to eliminate Upper St. Clair.
6:00 p.m. #5 North Allegheny vs #1 Peters Twp (at Dormont Stadium, Keystone Oaks)
How They Got Here: Peters def No. 8 Canon-McMillan, 2-0; North Allegheny def No. 4 Pine-Richland, 1-1 (won PK shootout)
Peters, the defending champs, racked up a plus-40 goal differential during the regular season. Anchoring things in the back for Peters is last year’s Moe Rosensteel Award recipient, Molly Kubistek, the first goalkeeper to win the prestigious honor. With a combined 37 goals, Brynn Busch (20) and Marina Hajnosz (17), provide a dangerous 1-2 punch that keeps a lot of opposing backlines on their toes.
The standard is always high for North Allegheny program, as Kieran Shannon and Emma Schupansky are among top players for a talented squad that ended up finishing behind both Seneca Valley and Pine-Richland in Section 1 this year. One coach shared with PSN, midfielder Rosalia Varlotta adds to the NA arsenal: “A complete player who can hurt you in many ways.”
As it goes in Class 4A among the top line programs — the Tigers have some high-quality wins (splitting the season series with Seneca Valley, beat No. 1 Peters Township, beat 3A No. 1 Fox Chapel) so they may be the most dangerous team out there who didn’t earn a first-round bye. Among the players to watch for the Tigers include Kieran Shannon and Emma Schupansky.
NA had a chance to get into a playoff groove, with a 7-0 first round win against Armstrong. Senior forward Averie Bierker scored twice, while solo goals from junior Rosalia Varlotta, junior Bella Montgomery, senior Maddie Williams, junior Shannon and junior Mwende Abai propelled the Tigers to the quarterfinals.
The Tigers then outlasted section rivals Pine-Richland in a match that went to a penalty kick shootout on Thursday.
WPIAL Girls Class 4A First Round Scoreboard
WPIAL Girls Class 4A Quarterfinal Round Scoreboard
WPIAL Final
TBA (at Highmark Stadium)
PIAA
Top Two Teams advance to State Playoffs
GIRLS 3A
Semifinal Round (Monday, October 27)
6:30 p.m. #4 Plum (17-1-0) vs #1 Fox Chapel (17-1-1) (at Gateway)
How they got here:
- Plum — def #13 Chartiers Valley, 5-0; def #5 Mars, 0-0 (PK shootout 5-4)
- Fox Chapel — def #16 Laurel Highlands, 7-0; def #9 West Allegheny, 6-2
8 p.m. #2 South Fayette (17-1-1) vs #3 Moon (18-1-0) (at Dormont Stadium, Keystone Oaks)
How they got here:
- South Fayette — def Elizabeth Forward, 7-0; def Montour, 5-3
- Moon — def #14 Oakland Catholic, 3-0: def #11 Shaler, 2-1
WPIAL Girls Class 3A First Round Scoreboard
WPIAL Girls Class 3A Quarterfinal Round Scoreboard
WPIAL Final
TBA (at Highmark Stadium)
PIAA Play-In Match (Wednesday, October 29)
Semifinal losers (Site, Time TBA)
PSN’s Girls Class 3A Tournament Outlook
The Favorites
Looking at the top two seeds, South Fayette and Fox Chapel, posted impressive regular season campaigns once again, with identical 15-1-1 records, with each loss coming to Class 4A schools.
Last year, South Fayette struck early and quickly to dispatch Fox Chapel, 4-0, in a rare final that featured two defending WPIAL champions, to win its second straight Class 3A WPIAL title (Fox Chapel had won Class 4A title in 2023). The Lions, led by Head Coach, Nick Rosser, have all the ingredients to make it a three-peat, bringing back the heart of its core talent including Mia Deramo, Gabby Beinecke, along with goalkeeper Caitlyn Thompson. The latter two, who are part of Riverhounds Development Academy, also trained and competed with Pittsburgh Riveters SC this past Summer. Deramo, a Youngstown St commit, scored the game-winner for South Fayette in the 2023 WPIAL final to beat Moon.
The Foxes started the season with six new starters, but with Pitt commit, junior Emily McKee leading the attack, they still remain a very dangerous squad. If you recall, McKee was a freshman when Fox Chapel won th WPIAL title in 2023, after stunning the top three seeds in the Class 4A tournament.
FC Head Coach Carlo Prati told PSN that heading into the season, it was a rebuilding year for the Foxes. Prati said that while his squad isn’t as dynamic on the width this season, having McKee pulling the strings and utilizing her ability on the ball has helped the Foxes control tempo and dictate terms in most matches.
Once again, Prati made sure the Foxes took on a challenging schedule, which they earned some impressive wins but more importantly, has the team battle-tested and ready for another deep run.
Still, Prati admits, there’s a gauntlet of tough teams in this classification.
“In Class 3A, it’s anyone’s match, any day of the week. That’s why I try to make it as tough as possible during the season, so they’re ready come playoffs,” Prati explained.
In the playoffs, it’s just as good as (Class 4A). You can’t take any days off. We try to keep the competitiveness as high as we can for our girls.”
Are there any potential sleepers lurking among this Girls Class 4A field?
You can hardly call Moon or Plum teams that may sneak up on anyone, but in this classification, they’re the 3rd and 4th seeds and also ran through unbeaten section campaigns with their only losses also coming against a 4A schools (Moon to Pine-Richland and Plum to Norwin).
One coach said of Moon, led by Bill Pfeifer, who has won more games than any coach in the WPIAL (over 500 win overall and surpassed 400 wins at Moon this season): “They’re loaded with players who play hard. The tradition of winning carries through every player. They are very hard to beat.”
Another coach had this to say about Plum: “They are fast, skillful, and have tremendous depth in the team. They defend with a deep back line, so it is tough to create a lot of great goal scoring opportunities against them.”
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Check out the latest Kids on the Pitch Podcast, as PSN’s John Krysinsky and Westmoreland Sports Network broadcast analyst Mike Powers took a look at Championship Week and discussed upcoming semifinal round matchups.
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