8 Westmoreland boys, girls soccer teams will start WPIAL playoffs at home

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, October 16, 2024 | 6:39 PM

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There is no place like home for eight local soccer teams.

The teams learned Wednesday they will be hosting their opening WPIAL playoff games.

Higher-seeded teams will play at home in the first two rounds.

“Not having to travel is huge,” said Penn-Trafford girls coach Jimmy Mastroianni, whose team is seeded third in Class 4A and has a bye into the quarterfinals. “It’s so special to have a playoff game in front of our home fans.”

Penn-Trafford (12-4) will host the winner of No. 6 Canon-McMillan (11-3-1) and No. 11 Hempfield (5-12) next Thursday at Warrior Stadium.

The Norwin, Latrobe, Franklin Regional, Belle Vernon and Mt. Pleasant boys also will be home to start the postseason, along with the Norwin and Mt. Pleasant girls.

The Norwin boys (11-5-1), the defending WPIAL 4A champions, are seeded fifth and will host No. 12 North Hills (10-8) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

“It is what is. We’re ready for anything,” Knights coach Scott Schuchert said. “All teams have a shot this year. It takes a lot of team character to win this bracket. We love to travel, but there is nothing like a weekday playoff game at the Castle. We’ll have it packed.”

Latrobe (12-4-1), fresh off its first section title and the No. 4 seed in 3A, will welcome No. 13 Ringgold (10-7-1) to Rossi Field at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

“We’re happy with (the seeding and the site),” Latrobe coach Jake Rice said. “We don’t know a lot about Ringgold. We’re happy Franklin Regional is on the opposite side (of the bracket).”

Franklin Regional (11-3-1), which finished second to Latrobe in Section 3, is seeded No. 7 and will be at home for a 1 p.m. kickoff Saturday against No. 10 Trinity (9-5-3).

It will be the second game of a doubleheader. Franklin Regional will host a Class A first-round game between Sewickley Academy and Springdale at 11 a.m.

Belle Vernon (7-9) has a quick turnaround after playing its final section game of the season Tuesday. The Leopards will meet West Mifflin (3-11), another section opponent, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at James Weir Stadium in the 3A preliminary round.

The Leopards won’t have much time to recover, either. The winner plays at No. 1 Moon (17-0) on Saturday.

“I understand why the WPIAL did what they did, but I was personally hoping to see a (fourth-place team) from another section in a play-in game for comparison and variety,” Belle Vernon coach Al Yeschenko said. “It’s a tough draw either way. We played two really great section matches against West Mifflin, and I expect this to be the same.”

In Class 2A, No. 7 Mt. Pleasant (13-5) will host No. 10 Shady Side Academy (11-4-1) at 6:30 p.m. Monday. The Vikings pulled an upset Tuesday, knocking off unbeaten Charleroi, 3-2, in overtime.

“It definitely means a lot to the team (to play at home),” Vikings coach Floyd Snyder said. “This was one of our goals at the beginning of the season.”

The Norwin girls, back in the playoffs after two years away, earned the No. 5 seed in Class 4A. The Lady Knights (10-7-1) will be home to No. 12 Mt. Lebanon (9-6-1) at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.

“I was hoping for a home game,” first-year coach Ashley DeVito said. “I honestly didn’t think we’d get as high as No. 5. That was a fantastic surprise. But I think it’s a testament to how well we’ve been playing at the end of the year and how much we’ve grown over the course of the season.”

The No. 1 seed in 2A went to Mt. Pleasant (14-1), which has won 34 straight section games and is seeking its second trip to the final in three years.

The Lady Vikings were upset in the quarterfinals by Burrell last year at Viking Stadium.

This year, they will open against No. 16 McGuffey (8-6-1) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

“It is always good to play at home and enjoy the sunset over Viking Stadium,” Mt. Pleasant coach Rich Garland said. “We are grateful to the committee for their work, and we look forward to seeing Vince Schmidt and the Lady Highlanders next Tuesday. We are familiar with McGuffey when they were in our section.”

The Greensburg Central Catholic girls also don’t have much time to watch film. They also start the postseason Thursday in the Class A preliminary round.

GCC (5-7), which played only section games because of a shortage of players, plays at California (4-8-1) at 6 p.m. for the right to play No. 1 Springdale (13-1) on Tuesday.

GCC made the playoffs when Apollo-Ridge forfeited the Section 4 finale to the Lady Centurions.

“If we have 11 players, we have a chance,” GCC coach Derek Cuthbert said. “Maybe Tuesday was a blessing in disguise. We should have 12 for tomorrow.”

The WPIAL finals are scheduled for Oct. 31 and Nov. 1-2 at Highmark Stadium.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.