A-K Valley high school soccer playoff capsules for Oct. 29, 2024

By: Michael Love
Monday, October 28, 2024 | 8:34 PM

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WPIAL soccer playoffs

Boys

Class 4A

Semifinals

1-Plum (16-0-3) vs. 4-North Allegheny (16-3-1)

6 p.m. Tuesday, Gateway’s Antimarino Stadium, Monroeville

Winner plays: Winner of 2-Peters Township (16-1-1)/3-Fox Chapel (11-4-2) Oct. 31, Nov. 1 or Nov. 2 at Highmark Stadium in championship

Corner kicks: These teams played to a 1-1 tie Aug. 27. … Plum bested No. 8 Canon-McMillan, 3-2 in double overtime, in the quarterfinals. Fedgy Fertil scored the winning goal. Austin Kolankowski and Gage Adinolfi also scored. Plum’s Garrett Chandler and Adinolfi were named to the All-WPIAL team Monday. … NA’s Nathan Katari and Zachary Nash were All-WPIAL selections. The Tigers shared the Section 3 title at 8-2. They beat No. 13 Central Catholic, 2-1, and No. 12 North Hills, 1-0, in the postseason. Leonardo Yu scored the lone goal for the Tigers in the quarterfinals. NA has allowed just 14 goals this season.

2-Peters Township (16-1-1) vs. 3-Fox Chapel (11-4-2)

8 p.m. Tuesday, Gateway’s Antimarino Stadium, Monroeville

Winner plays: Winner of 1-Plum (16-0-3)/4-North Allegheny (16-3-1) Oct. 31, Nov. 1 or Nov. 2 at Highmark Stadium in championship

Corner kicks: Peters Township won the Section 2 title at 10-0 and has outscored opponents 70-7 this season. The Indians have posted 11 shutouts. They beat Seneca Valley, 2-1, on Saturday. Anthony Maiello and Jeven Kelly scored for Peters Township. Parker Weiss, Brett Martin, Caden Hensler and Alex Parise were named All-WPIAL on Monday. Alex Parise had 15 goals in the regular season. … Fox Chapel’s Milo Chiu, Kellan Bleier, Carson Krushansky and Aidan Stein were All-WPIAL picks. Chiu, Krushansky and Stein all scored in a 3-1 quarterfinal victory over Upper St. Clair. The Foxes are 4-1-1 in their last six games.

Girls

Class 3A

Semifinals

4-Plum (17-1) vs. 1-Fox Chapel (16-2-1)

6 p.m. Tuesday, Martorelli Stadium, Ross Township

Winner plays: Winner of 2-South Fayette (16-3)/6-Mars (17-2) Oct. 31, Nov. 1 or Nov. 2 at Highmark Stadium in championship

Corner kicks: Plum and Fox Chapel, former conference rivals through 2017, meet for the first time since 2021 when the Mustangs defeated the Foxes, 1-0, at Fox Chapel late in the regular season. The teams shared a Quad-A section championship in 2016. … Plum returns to the WPIAL semifinals after a one-year hiatus. The Mustangs lost to Montour in the 2023 quarterfinals. Plum hopes to reach the WPIAL championship game for the first time since it played in three straight title contests from 2019-2021. The Mustangs punched their ticket to Tuesday’s semifinals with a 2-1 double-overtime victory over No. 5 Moon last Thursday. Freshman Kierstin Curry tallied Plum’s biggest goal of the season with her game winner, and it was her first career varsity score. Sophomore Emily Grubich recorded the Mustangs’ goal in regulation. It was her team-leading 20th of the season. Senior Gianna Revetta, who had an assist in the game, is second on the team with 10 goals, while senior Mia Nardo has eight goals on season. … The Fox Chapel offense continued its potent attack through the first two rounds with 15 goals. It shut out Indiana in the first round, 8-0, before rolling past Montour, 7-1, last Thursday in the quarterfinals. The Foxes’ two top scoring threats – Emily McKee and Alyssa Quackenbush – led the way through the first two playoff contests. McKee scored five goals and assisted on five others, while Quackenbush owns six playoff goals. The Foxes have allowed just 11 goals in 19 games. Five of the 11 came in their two losses. Fox Chapel dropped down to Class 3A after winning last year’s Class 4A championship.

Class 2A

Semifinals

9-Burrell (13-5-1) vs. 4-South Park (14-4-1)

6 p.m. Tuesday, Newman Stadium, McCandless

Winner plays: Winner of 2-Quaker Valley (15-2-2)/6-North Catholic (15-3) Oct. 31, Nov. 1 or Nov. 2 at Highmark Stadium in championship

Corner kicks: While last year’s quarterfinal matchup between Burrell and Mt. Pleasant went into overtime before the Bucs took out the No. 3 Vikings, the rematch Saturday was not as close. Burrell sophomore Makiah Buchak scored two goals, sophomore Parker Moore headed in a goal, and senior Maggie Nesko boomed one in from 45 yards out in a 4-0 quarterfinal win at Mt. Pleasant. Senior Dana Barczykowski recorded the shutout. It was the Bucs’ 10th clean sheet of the season. They also rolled past Keystone Oaks, 6-0, in the first round. Buchak’s two goals give her a team-best 11, and Nesko’s score puts her at 10 for the season. Sophomores Leah Waldsmith (9) and McKenna Miller (8), and senior Miley Kariotis (8) also are at the top of the goal-scoring list. Burrell is hoping for a better fate in the semifinals this time after falling to Shady Side, 3-0, in the round of four last year. … Burrell and South Park are no strangers to each other as they played in last year’s third-place game at Gateway. The Eagles won, 3-0, to deny the Bucs a spot in the PIAA tournament. … South Park punched its ticket to the semifinals with a win on penalty kicks over No. 5 Freeport on Saturday. After playing to a scoreless draw through 80 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods, the Eagles outshot Freeport, 4-1, to claim the win. A pair of seniors, midfielder Alicia Riberich and defender Emily Mihelcic, are ones to watch for South Park. The Eagles went 12-0 in capturing the Section 1 title. They are unbeaten in 12 games (11-0-1) since a 3-1 loss to third-seeded Beaver on Sept. 12. South Park has won five WPIAL championships, the most recent coming in 2018.

Class A

Semifinals

1-Springdale (15-1) vs. 5-Sewickley Academy (13-3-1)

Winner plays: Winner of 2-Seton LaSalle (14-2-2)/6-Winchester Thurston (14-5) Oct. 31, Nov. 1 or Nov. 2 at Highmark Stadium in championship

Corner kicks: Springdale earned a spot in the WPIAL semifinals with a convincing 5-0 victory over No. 8 Freedom in the quarterfinals Saturday at Fox Chapel. The win avenged losses to the Bulldogs from last year’s semifinals and the 2022 championship game. It also guaranteed a new WPIAL champion in Class A as Freedom was the two-time defending champion. Freshman Tessa Derringer scored two goals in the quarterfinal triumph, giving her 12 goals on the season. Senior Molly Hurley also scored twice, and she now has 13 goals. Senior Briana Ross’s single tally lifted her to 35 goals on the season. Her two assists were her 23rd and 24th. Springdale’s only loss this season came in a 3-0 setback to Class 2A power Burrell. The Dynamos own 10 shutouts this season. … Tuesday’s final-four matchup between the Dynamos and Sewickley Academy is a rematch of a 3-2 Springdale win in the 2022 first round and also a 10-0 first-round victory over the Panthers last year. … No. 5 Sewickley Academy advanced through the first two rounds with a pair of shutouts, 1-0 over No. 13 Riverside in the first round and 2-0 over No. 13 Aquinas Academy in the quarterfinals. The Panthers are going after their first WPIAL title since 2004 when they won the fourth of four championships in a six-year span. Sewickley Academy is led by the talents of senior forward Katherine Varghese, senior goalkeeper Marie Bigi and sophomore midfielder Emma Eannarino.

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, Fox Chapel, North Allegheny, Peters Township, Plum, Sewickley Academy, South Park, Springdale