High School Soccer Playoff Rewind: 10 Things We Learned From Monday’s First Round (WPIAL Class 4A and 2A)

Monday night provided more excitement across the WPIAL boys soccer landscape, featuring high-stakes drama, extra-time heroics, penalty-kick heroics, and lower-seed upsets in Classes 4A and 2A.

WPIAL Class 4A and 2A Boys Soccer Playoff Final Scoreboard — Monday First Round (Oct. 26)

With the set up in this year’s postseason, believe it or not, there will be days off, including today (Tuesday), the usual Friday, but this year, there will be no games played on Saturday, October 31 (WPIAL avoiding Halloween for once!), while all the classifications will play quarterfinal round matches on Wednesday and Thursday and Semifinal Round matches to be played on Monday and Tuesday of next week.

In addition, as the Quarterfinal Round kicks off on Wednesday for Boys 3A/1A and Girls 4A/2A, the stake will get higher for teams that advance in the WPIAL tournament as they will also get one step closer to qualifying for the PIAA (State) playoffs.  In fact, in the case of Class 2A Boys, all four Quarterfinal winners will advance to the PIAA tournament.

Here’s the breakdown of how many teams qualify for the PIAA from each WPIAL (District 7) classification.

• Class 4A: 2 teams qualifying

• Class 3A: 3 teams qualifying

• Class 2A:

  • Boys Class 2A: 4 teams qualifying

  • Girls Class 2A: 3 teams qualifying

• Class 1A: 3 teams qualifying

Also please note that Pittsburgh City League schools compete in a separate district, with City League team qualifying for a Play-In game that will take place next week (likely vs District 6 or 9 school). The last two years, Allderdice qualified out of the City League in both boys and girls, with the boys team making an unprecedented run to the PIAA Semifinal last year.

Before we look ahead to Wednesday and Thursday, here are some notes compiled including the 10 Things We Learned from Monday’s opening-round boys matches!

1. Seeds Mean Nothing in Boys Class 4A

If you looked purely at the numbers next to the teams in the Boys Class 4A bracket, you might have expected lopsided affairs.

Instead, almost every match was fiercely contested. Even Mt. Lebanon’s clean 3-0 win over North Hills still proved to be a tough contest right through the final whistle.

The rest of the 4A matches featured two one-goal regulation games, an extra-time winner, and a dramatic penalty-kick shootout.

2. Aaron Scheib’s Four-Goal Masterclass Headlines 2A Upsets

No. 13 Ambridge (14-4-2) pulled off one of the biggest shockwaves of the night, stunning No. 4 Elizabeth Forward 4-3 in extra time. Forward Aaron Scheib put on a legendary performance, scoring four goals—including a clutch equalizer with just 2:15 left in regulation and the golden winner in overtime—outdueling a multi-goal effort from EF’s Aidan Davis.

3. Upper St. Clair Survives and Advances via Penalty Shootout

In a classic, tense Class 4A contest where the margins were thin throughout, No. 8 Upper St. Clair (7-5-5) and No. 9 Central Catholic battled through 110 minutes of scoreless playoff soccer.

In the ensuing penalty shootout, Panthers goalkeeper Tyler Lebau came up huge with two massive saves to lift USC to a 1-0 (4-1 PK) victory and set up a quarterfinal date with top-seeded Norwin.

4. Belle Vernon & South Park Make Big Statements

Two lower-seeded squads in Class 2A proved they were ready for the challenge.

No. 10 Belle Vernon (15-1-2) took down last year’s 2A runner-up, No. 7 Beaver, 4-2 behind a pair of goals each from Jordan Jerome and Jesse Sobczak.

Meanwhile, following many years of being a high seed, No. 12 South Park flipped the script as a lower seed, coming through by eliminating No. 5 Mount Pleasant 2-1.

5. Ryan Cashman Powers Pine-Richland Past Canon-Mac

In a tightly contested 4A battle of attrition, No. 7 Pine-Richland (9-5-3) needed every bit of offense it could muster against No. 10 Canon-McMillan.

Enter Ryan Cashman, who earlier this season, we saw score four goals in one match at the JRK Memorial Classic, netted both goals for the Rams, sealing a hard-fought 2-1 extra-time victory and sending Pine-Richland to a quarterfinal matchup with No. 2 Seneca Valley.

6. Quaker Valley’s Luca Kurumfashe Solves Freeport

Defense and clinical finishing carried No. 9 Quaker Valley (11-5-2) past No. 8 Freeport 2-0. Luca Kurumfashe was the offensive catalyst for the Quakers, scoring a goal in each half to blank a tough Yellowjackets side and punch a ticket to face section rival and top-seeded Avonworth in the quarterfinal round.

7. Shady Side Academy’s Balanced Attack Solves Seton LaSalle

In a rematch of last year’s postseason meeting, No. 6 Shady Side Academy (12-3-3) controlled the pitch against No. 11 Seton LaSalle, cruising to a 3-0 clean-sheet victory. The Bulldogs got contributions all down the scoresheet with goals from Jack Morowitz, Landon Tierney, and Liam McKim, setting up a quarterfinal showdown with No. 3 North Catholic.

8. North Catholic’s Liscinsky & Mueser Roll Over Burrell

Speaking of No. 3 North Catholic (16-1-2), the Trojans wasted no time establishing dominance in a 6-0 rout of No. 14 Burrell. Matthew Liscinsky scored twice, Ryan Mueser tallied a goal and two assists, and Logan Mueser recorded a comfortable clean sheet to advance the Trojans safely into the quarterfinals.

9. Avonworth and Deer Lakes Show Why They Are Elite

Tournament heavyweights flexed their muscles on Monday night. Top-seeded Avonworth (16-1-1) raced past West Mifflin 5-2, fueled by a goal and two assists from Carlos Miranda and balanced scoring from Calder Mahan, James Meese, Alex Hayes, and Eli Silvey. Simultaneously, defending champion Deer Lakes blanked Hopewell 3-0 to comfortably advance.

10. Mt. Lebanon, Fox Chapel & North Allegheny Take Care of Business

In the remaining Class 4A fixtures, experience won out. No. 4 Mt. Lebanon handled North Hills 3-0 behind goals from David Colwes, Moses Perkovich, and James Havas. No. 6 Fox Chapel topped Moon 2-1 via scores from Noah Fincher and Isaac Drucker.  Hard to believe that both Moon’s teams are out of the playoffs in the first round this year.  That has to be a first!

Finally, No. 5 North Allegheny edged Gateway 2-1 thanks to a clutch game-winner from Connor Heliger, setting up a pretty enticing 4v5 seed showdown with Mt. Lebanon.

Remaining Tournament Schedule & Roadmap: Boys Classes 4A & 2A

Quarterfinals — Thursday, October 29 (Higher seeds host)

• Boys Class 4A Quarterfinals:

  • #8 Upper St. Clair at #1 Norwin — Thursday, Oct. 29 (Time TBA)

  • #5 North Allegheny at #4 Mt. Lebanon — Thursday, Oct. 29 (Time TBA)

  • #6 Fox Chapel at #3 Peters Township — Thursday, Oct. 29 (Time TBA)

  • #7 Pine-Richland at #2 Seneca Valley — Thursday, Oct. 29 (Time TBA)

• Boys Class 2A Quarterfinals:

  • Top Half: #9 Quaker Valley at #1 Avonworth | #13 Ambridge at #12 South Park — Thursday, Oct. 29 (Time TBA)

  • Bottom Half: #10 Belle Vernon at #2 Deer Lakes | #6 Shady Side Academy at #3 North Catholic — Thursday, Oct. 29 (Time TBA)

Semifinals — Tuesday, November 3 (Neutral Sites)

• Class 4A and 2A Semifinal fixtures narrowing fields down to the final two district contenders.

WPIAL Championships & Consolation Finals — F.N.B. Stadium (Nov. 5–7 Window)

PIAA Championship Tournament

• Play-In Games, Wednesday and Thursday, November 4 and 5

• Brackets revealed Sunday, November 8

• First Round Tuesday, November 10

• Quarterfinal Round, November 14

• Semifinal Round, November 17

• Championship (FNB Stadium) — November 20 and November 21

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).