A-K Valley WPIAL girls soccer playoff capsules: Games of Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023

By: Michael Love
Monday, October 30, 2023 | 7:20 PM

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WPIAL soccer playoffs

Girls

Class 2A

Semifinals

6-Burrell (14-4) vs. 7-Shady Side Academy (14-3-1)

8 p.m. Tuesday at Gateway High School

Winner plays: Winner of 1-Avonworth (16-1-2) vs. 5-South Park (15-5) Saturday at 11 a.m. in championship game at Highmark Stadium.

Loser plays: Third-place consolation Thursday (site/time TBD) for a berth in PIAA playoffs.

Players to watch: Mikaya Buchak, Burrell; Sarah Kushnir, Shady Side Academy.

Throw-ins: Tuesday’s game is a rematch of a 1-0 Shady Side win Sept. 16. It was the only loss for the Bucs in a stretch of eight games. The Bulldogs went a combined 19-0-1 in section matches in 2020 and 2021. The only tie came against Burrell. … The Bucs are in the WPIAL semifinals for the first time in program history. Burrell punched its ticket to the semifinals with a 2-1 overtime victory at No. 3 Mt. Pleasant. Buchak, a freshman, scored the winner for the Bucs, who also got a second-half tally from senior Tessa Mathabel, her team-leading 14th of the season. Burrell has won four in a row. … Shady Side Academy defeated No. 2 North Catholic, 3-1, on Saturday to punch its ticket to the semifinals. The Bulldogs are 4-0-1 in their last five games. Kushnir, a sophomore, leads Shady Side with 29 goals. Senior Caroline Liptak, a Division I Marist commit, also is a major goal-scoring threat for Shady Side.

Class A

Semifinals

1-Riverivew (18-2) vs. 12-South Allegheny (13-7)

8 p.m. Tuesday at North Allegheny

Winner plays: Winner of 6-Springdale (13-3) vs. 2-Freedom (16-3) Friday at 6 p.m. in championship game at Highmark Stadium.

Loser plays: Third-place consolation Thursday (site/time TBD) for a berth in PIAA playoffs.

Players to watch: Lola Abraham, Riverview; Rylee Stez, South Allegheny.

Throw-ins: Riverview is making its first appearance in a WPIAL semifinal game. The Raiders have outscored their first two playoff opponents, Aquinas Academy and Chartiers-Houston, by a combined 8-0. Senior Chiara Brun had the shutout in goal for both victories. Senior Pitt commit Lola Abraham has scored seven goals in the playoffs to give her 63 for the season. Riverview’s lone losses this season came to section rival Greensburg Central Catholic and Section 2-2A champion Freeport. … South Allegheny is a Cinderella of sorts in the Class A playoffs. The Gladiators toppled No. 5 GCC, 2-1, in overtime in the first round and then beat No. 5 Winchester Thurston, 1-0, on penalty kicks (4-2) to advance to the semifinals. Stetz, Ella Lotz, Molly Zrenchak and Abby Allan converted their kicks to help seal the win. Stetz, a senior, leads the team with 12 goals this season. South Allegheny’s win over GCC was its first in the playoffs since 2015 and the first playoff contest since 2020.

6-Springdale (13-3) vs. 2-Freedom (16-3)

6 p.m. Tuesday at North Allegheny

Winner plays: Winner of 1-Riverview (18-2) vs. 12-South Allegheny (13-7) Friday at 6 p.m. in championship game at Highmark Stadium.

Loser plays: Third-place consolation Thursday (site/time TBD) for a berth in PIAA playoffs.

Players to watch: Shaye Bailey, Freedom; Hailey Marchlewski, Springdale

Throw-ins: Springdale and Freedom meet for the third time in as many seasons. The Bulldogs beat the Dynamos, 6-0, in the 2021 WPIAL third-place game and 3-0 in last year’s WPIAL final at Highmark. … Springdale got a hat trick from junior Molly Hurley and goals from Brianna Ross, Charli McClafferty and Marchlewski in a 6-2 triumph over No. 3 Charleroi in Saturday’s quarterfinals. Ross now has a team-best 41 goals on the season, while Hurley raised her season total to 14. … Freedom needed to rally to defeat No. 7 OLSH, 3-2, on Saturday. Bailey, a senior and multi-sport star for the Bulldogs, was the 2022-23 Trib HSSN Girls Athlete of the Year. She scored five goals in a first-round win over Ellis School and tallied another in the win over OLSH to give her 44 for the season. Mackenzie Mohrbacher and Brianna Casto added goals in the quarterfinal win. Casto’s goal was her third of the playoffs. Freedom’s 2022 WPIAL title was the third for the program. The Bulldogs went on to finish as PIAA runners-up.

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, Freedom, Riverview, Shady Side Academy, South Allegheny, Springdale