Top-seeded Springdale girls lead A-K Valley contingent into WPIAL soccer playoffs

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, October 16, 2024 | 6:39 PM

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For the first time in its recent streak of eight straight playoff qualifications, the Springdale girls soccer team is a top seed.

The Dynamos earned the No. 1 spot in the Class A bracket as the WPIAL soccer selection committee released its boys and girls playoff brackets Wednesday afternoon.

Springdale finished 13-1 in the regular season and captured the Section 4-A championship with an undefeated 12-0 record. The Dynamos play Tuesday at Freeport and will face the winner of a play-in game between No. 16 California (4-8-1) and No. 17 Greensburg Central Catholic (4-7) set for 6 p.m. Thursday.

“This is recognition for the great regular season they had, and it is something they can be really proud of,” Springdale coach Marc Bentley said. “We’ve always felt that the No. 1 seed is a target on your back. Teams are going to be gunning to take us down. We’re not taking anything for granted. We have to be at our best if we want to get back to Highmark.”

Springdale was the No. 2 seed in 2021 and again in 2022 when it played Freedom for the WPIAL title at Highmark Stadium.

The Dynamos were the No. 6 seed last year when they made the WPIAL semifinals and clinched a spot in the PIAA playoffs for the second year in a row.

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

The Fox Chapel girls (Class 3A) and the Plum boys (Class 4A) also picked up No. 1 seeds.

The Plum boys, undefeated champions of Section 1 and 15-0-1 overall, have a bye into the Class 4A quarterfinals and will face the winner of No. 8 Canon McMillan (10-4-2) and No. 9 Gateway (8-7) on Saturday, Oct. 26.

The Mustangs also were a No. 1 seed last year and saw their season halted in the Class 3A quarterfinals by South Fayette in a 1-0 result.

“Last year, we had an earlier exit than we wanted, and we were also No. 1 before,” Plum coach Raf Kolankowski said. “The guys understand that once the playoffs start, any team on any given day can win. It isn’t like you have one team that is dominating. They know it is going to be a fight. We had a lot of close games this year in and out of section, and hopefully that got them prepared.”

The Fox Chapel girls made a run last year to a WPIAL Class 4A title, and they hope to do it again after moving down to Class 3A in WPIAL realignment. The Foxes (15-1-1) went undefeated in winning the Section 1 title and will host No. 16 Indiana (5-9-2) at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

Their only loss in the regular season came Monday at the hands of Class 4A top seed Peters Township.

On the same side of the Class 3A bracket, the Plum girls, who captured their sixth consecutive section title, drew the No. 4 seed and will host No. 13 Shaler (8-8-1) at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

The Lady Mustangs’ lone loss in a 15-1 regular season came at Montour, 1-0, on Sept. 19. The Spartans are on the same side of the bracket as the No. 8 seed.

Plum made the WPIAL championship game three years in a row from 2019-2021, played in the semifinals in 2022 and were ousted by Montour in the quarterfinals last year.

The Deer Lakes and Fox Chapel boys are No. 3 seeds in their respective brackets.

The Lancers (15-2-1), champions of Section 1, hope for a better fate as a Class 2A No. 3 seed this year than last year when they were upset by No. 14 Hopewell in the first round. The teams will rematch at Deer Lakes at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

Fox Chapel (10-4-1), co-champions of Section 3 with North Allegheny, will open the Class 4A tournament in the quarterfinals Oct. 26 and take on the winner of No. 6 Upper St. Clair (10-5-2) and No. 11 Pine-Richland (6-10-1).

The Burrell boys (8-9) are the No. 13 seed in Class 2A and will travel to No. 4 Quaker Valley (14-3-1) at 6:30 p.m. Monday. The Bucs made the Class A semifinals last year and were the lone A-K Valley boys team to punch a ticket to states.

The Class A boys tournament features No. 6 Springdale (13-4), runner-up to Winchester Thurston in Section 4, taking on No. 11 Sewickley Academy (8-8-1) in the first round at 11 a.m. Saturday at Franklin Regional.

The Riverview boys (10-6), in the WPIAL Class A playoffs for the first time since 2019, are the No. 13 seed and are set to take on No. 4 Beaver County Christian (13-3) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Moon.

Traditional girls playoff qualifiers Freeport, Burrell and Deer Lakes again populate the Class 2A bracket.

The Section 2 champion Yellowjackets (11-1-1) are the No. 5 seed and will host No. 12 Belle Vernon (9-9) at 8 p.m. Tuesday while No. 7 Deer Lakes (13-3-2) hosts No. 10 Avonworth (7-10-1), the defending WPIAL Class 2A champion, at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Burrell, which made a run to the WPIAL 2A semifinals last year, drew the No. 9 seed and will pay a visit to Dormont Stadium to play No. 8 Keystone Oaks (10-8) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Bucs finished the regular season 11-5-1 as the No. 3 team from Section 2 behind Freeport and runner-up North Catholic.

The Riverview girls (10-3), last year’s Class A runner-up and PIAA finalist, begin their stay in the WPIAL tournament as the No. 10 seed. They will make the trip to No. 7 Waynesburg (13-2) at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The Kiski Area girls (6-8-1), the third-place team from Section 4-3A, are the No. 15 seed in the Class 3A bracket and will play at No. 2 South Fayette (13-3), the defending champion, at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

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.