Deer Lakes plots course to defend WPIAL boys soccer championship

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, October 18, 2023 | 3:47 PM

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The Deer Lakes boys soccer team lost just once in Section 2-2A play and finished the regular season 14-2.

That means the Lancers have put themselves in prime position to defend their WPIAL championship and go after a third title in four years.

The WPIAL soccer selection committee released its boys and girls brackets Wednesday afternoon, and Deer Lakes earned the No. 3 seed behind No. 1 South Park and No. 2 Quaker Valley.

The Lancers host No. 14 Hopewell (9-6) at 7 p.m. Monday.

“We’re excited about where we are and the opportunity in front of us,” Deer Lakes coach Aaron Smith said.

“We’re a younger team, but the guys are very motivated. We’re healthy right now. We had a nice scrimmage against Gateway last night to get ready. We played Hopewell in the first round last year, and it was a 1-0 result. We respect that team. It’s nice that we have a couple of days to prepare.”

Smith said the team’s focus will be squarely on the Vikings, but a potential quarterfinal matchup could see Deer Lakes square off against conference rival and No. 6-seeded Shady Side Academy. The teams split their section series.

Six Alle-Kiski Valley boys teams and nine on the girls side earned WPIAL playoff berths.

There are no preliminary-round games or first-round byes as 16 teams qualified in boys and girls Class A, Class 2A, and Class 3A, and eight are in for boys and girls in Class 4A.

All of the teams hope to make runs to the WPIAL title games set for Nov. 2-4 at Highmark Stadium.

In addition to WPIAL gold on the line, a select number of teams will qualify for the PIAA tournaments based on final placement in the WPIAL process.

Eleven WPIAL boys teams — two in Class 4A and three in each of the other three classes — will punch tickets to states. Twelve girls teams will qualify: three in Class 2A and Class A, four in Class 3A and two in Class 4A.

The Plum boys and girls teams, and the Riverview girls each have secured top-two seeds in their brackets.

The Plum boys, who lost just once in the regular season and went 14-0 in conference play to win the Section 4 title — its fifth straight championship — are the top seed in Class 3A and will host No. 16 Chartiers Valley (6-9) at 1 p.m. Saturday.

“It’s not an easy draw for us,” Mustangs coach Raf Kolankowski said. “Chartiers Valley was pretty competitive in a tough section. We will have our hands full. We have to be prepared and ready to go. We had a lot of close games this year and found ways to keep our cool. The kids bought into what we were doing. Hopefully, the soccer gods are on our side.”

The top-seeded Riverview girls, the champion of Section 1-A, won 15 games in a row before falling to Section 2-2A champion Freeport, 4-1, on Tuesday. Riverview opens against 16th-seeded Aquinas Academy at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Shady Side Academy.

The Raiders are in the WPIAL playoffs for the third year in a row since coming back after not being able to field a team in 2020. They are seeking playoff victories and a run to the title game after first-round exits each of the past two seasons.

Senior Pitt commit Lola Abraham has 56 goals in 17 games this season.

“We set our schedule to play some tough teams (Greensburg Central Catholic, Eden Christian, Springdale, Freeport) going into the playoffs, so we are prepared,” Riverview coach Sean Abraham said.

“This year, the goal is to get in there and hopefully get to that final game.”

The Plum girls are no strangers to being a top-two seed in the WPIAL playoffs. Winners of five straight section championships, the Mustangs take their No. 2 seed and 15-0-1 record into a first-round matchup with neighboring rival Kiski Area (7-9-2) at 7 p.m. Monday at Plum.

It is a rematch of a first-round game from 2022 won by the Mustangs, 9-0.

Plum hopes to make it back to the WPIAL title game at Highmark after falling to Moon in the semifinals last year.

The Springdale and Burrell boys, co-champions of Section 3-A, are on opposite sides of their bracket.

The No. 3 Bucs (12-3) host Greensburg Central Catholic (7-10) at 1 p.m. Saturday, and the No. 5 Dynamos (13-3) face No. 12 Carlynton (9-6-1) at 3 p.m. Saturday at Plum.

Other boys first-round games feature Knoch (11-7), No. 7 in Class 2A, hosting Elizabeth Forward (10-5-1) at 7 p.m. Monday, and Class 4A No. 5 Fox Chapel traveling to No. 4 Upper St. Clair (14-1-2) in the quarterfinals Oct. 28, at a time to be determined.

The Freeport girls (13-1-1), in the WPIAL playoffs for an 11th straight season, captured the Section 2-2A title with an 8-1-1 record, just one point ahead of runner-up Burrell (12-4) in the standings.

The Yellowjackets are the Class 2A No. 4 seed and host No. 13 Beaver (8-6-1) at 8 p.m. Tuesday. The Bucs, in the playoffs for the eighth year in a row, own the No. 6 seed and host Keystone Oaks (9-7-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Other games in girls Class 2A have No. 10 Deer Lakes (9-6-3) traveling to Shady Side Academy (12-3-1) at 6 p.m. Tuesday, and No. 12 Knoch (8-6-2) at No. 5 South Park (13-5) at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

The Deer Lakes girls return to the WPIAL playoffs after missing out last year, ending a string of five straight postseason appearances.

The Lancers, coach Frank Accetta said, played well down the stretch, and a 2-1 victory Monday over Knoch clinched third place in Section 2-2A.

Deer Lakes also handed Freeport its only section loss, 2-0 on Sept. 27.

Springdale (11-3), last year’s Class A runner-up and the third-place team in Section 1 behind Riverview and GCC, is the No. 6 seed and will play Sewickley Academy (7-7) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Freeport.

Fox Chapel (10-4-2), the No. 6 seed in girls Class 4A, visits No. 3 Peters Township (13-1-2) on Oct. 26.

The playoff brackets can be found at Trib HSSN.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Burrell, Deer Lakes, Fox Chapel, Freeport, Kiski Area, Knoch, Plum, Riverview, Springdale