Freeport earns No. 2 seed, bye for WPIAL girls soccer playoffs

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, October 18, 2017 | 10:03 PM

Freeport maybe didn't need a first-round bye in the WPIAL girls soccer playoffs as much as it did last year, but the Yellowjackets certainly won't turn it down.

For the second consecutive season, Freeport (15-2-1) earned the No. 2 seed, a first-round bye and the ability to skip all the way to the Class AA quarterfinals. The WPIAL released its playoff brackets for boys and girls soccer Wednesday.

The No. 2 seed brought good mojo to Freeport last season, as the Yellowjackets advanced to the WPIAL championship game for the first time in school history before losing to Freedom. Freedom earned the No. 1 seed in Class AA again this season.

“We're really excited to have the bye week, and what comes with that is being able to watch the two teams play that we will play the winner of,” Freeport coach Brittni Grenninger said. “I think the benefits are twofold.”

Freeport enters this postseason healthier than last season, when some key starters were battling significant injuries. The Yellowjackets will play Oct. 26 against the winner of Monday's game between Quaker Valley and Beaver.

“I think the motivation's there, and it feels like there's a higher expectation that the girls have put on themselves,” Grenninger said. “They know what it feels like to get to the WPIAL final, and they want to get back to that point and be on the winning end of it.”

A total of 14 Alle-Kiski Valley soccer teams learned their playoff fates Wednesday.

Freeport's Section 2-AA rivals, Burrell, Deer Lakes and Springdale, will join the Yellowjackets in the postseason. Burrell (11-3-1) received the No. 5 seed and a matchup with No. 12 Charleroi (8-9-1) at 6 p.m. Monday at Plum, a rematch of a first-round game from 2016 that Charleroi won 2-1. No. 9 Deer Lakes (10-6-1), making its first playoff appearance since 2011, will play No. 8 Brownsville (13-4-1) at 6 p.m. Monday at Elizabeth Forward. No. 11 Springdale (11-5-1) will play No. 6 Avonworth (11-5) at 6 p.m. Monday at Mars.

In Class AAAA, Section 3-AAAA champion Fox Chapel (12-5-1) earned the No. 7 seed and a matchup with No. 10 Butler (10-7) at 8 p.m. Monday at Fox Chapel. No. 8 Plum (13-3) will host No. 9 North Allegheny (10-6-1) at 8 p.m. Monday, and No. 12 Kiski Area (9-6) will face No. 5 Mt. Lebanon (9-6-1) at 8 p.m. Monday at Mt. Lebanon.

Apollo-Ridge (10-4), seeking the first playoff win in school history, received the No. 12 seed in Class A and will face Section 1 rival Shady Side Academy (10-3) at 6 p.m. Monday at Penn-Trafford. The Vikings dropped their two meetings with the No. 5 Indians during the regular season, 3-2 and 7-0.

“If we're going to play a game eventually against the defending state (runner-up), I guess there's no better time than to get it out of the way first,” Apollo-Ridge coach Matt Ross said. “They have very good coaches over there, and they're able to make adjustments during the game, and they have done that in the past. We know what they have to an extent, but whenever you involve good coaches, that sometimes can add an unexpected fold into what you're expecting going in.”

Deer Lakes earned the top placement among A-K Valley boys teams, the No. 4 seed in Class AA and a game against No. 13 Brownsville (11-5-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Chartiers Valley. The Lancers (12-3-2) advanced to the WPIAL quarterfinals last season but replaced most of their starting lineup because of graduation losses.

“It didn't matter who we were going to play or where,” Deer Lakes coach Jordan Wiegand said. “A number of those guys haven't experienced that setting yet, so they are very anxious to get going.”

Deer Lakes' Section 2-AA rival Freeport (12-5) received the No. 8 seed and a first-round matchup with No. 9 Riverside (10-5-1) at 3 p.m. Saturday at North Allegheny.

In Class AAAA, No. 7 Plum (11-5) will host No. 10 Upper St. Clair (6-9-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday. Fox Chapel (9-8) got the No. 16 seed and will face top-seeded Peters Township (14-0-1) at 5 p.m. Saturday at Peters Township.

Section 4-A rivals Springdale (12-4-1) and Riverview (11-5-1) both qualified for the playoffs. No. 7 Springdale, which lost in overtime in the 2016 first round, will take on No. 10 Serra Catholic (9-7-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday at North Allegheny.

Returning to the playoffs after a two-year absence, No. 11 Riverview (11-5-1) will play No. 6 Sewickley Academy (9-8-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Montour.

“I think this bracket is pretty fair with how each team was seeded,” Dynamos coach Cesareo Sanchez said. “All of the teams are good, and each first-round game should be a challenge.”

Michael Love contributed. Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Burrell, Deer Lakes, Fox Chapel, Freeport, Kiski School, Plum, Riverview, Springdale