Norwin girls soccer gets much-needed WPIAL bye with No. 2 seed

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, October 17, 2018 | 10:03 PM

Norwin’s girls soccer program has had its share of success in recent years as it won WPIAL titles in 2015 and ‘16, and a PIAA championship last season.

But the Knights will add a new wrinkle this postseason, something they surprisingly did not have in those glory years: a first-round bye.

If there’s a team that can use one, it’s Norwin (14-2), which was awarded the No. 2 seed for the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs.

Several nagging injuries to key players have disrupted the Knights, albeit quietly, so the down time will help them get healthy.

Norwin will play the winner of North Allegheny (10-5-1) and Moon (11-4-2) on Wednesday.

“I don’t think anyone knew what to expect with the seedings this year, but we are going to take the extra time to heal up and dive into preparations for the next round,” Norwin coach Lauren Karcher said. “At the end of the day, playoffs are always an exciting time and every team is going to turn it up. There are always some surprises — it’s playoff soccer — and we just need to make sure we play better and come out stronger than any team we face.”

Seneca Valley (13-2), which beat Norwin, 3-1, is the No. 1 seed. The Raiders also beat defending WPIAL champion Penn-Trafford, 3-0.

Penn-Trafford (12-4) is the No. 6 seed and will face Butler (9-5-2) in the first round at 3 p.m. Saturday at North Allegheny.

Norwin and Penn-Trafford, longtime rivals that met in last year’s WPIAL final, are on the same side of a bracket that looks pretty open.

“Our goal is definitely to get to that game,” Penn-Trafford coach Jackie Bartko said of again seeing Norwin, which swept the Warriors this season. “It’s not going to be an easy road. Every playoff team is a high-quality team.”

Defending Class A champion Greensburg Central Catholic (9-2) also drew a No. 2 seed and will open its title defense against Riverside (6-6-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hampton.

GCC coach Ashley Davis said the bracket turned out the way she expected, for the most part.

“I am very pleased (with our seed),” Davis said. “I thought Springdale would be on our side but other than that, I am not really surprised.”

Belle Vernon (13-3) is another contender after making the playoffs for the 16th straight time. The Leopards host South Fayette (9-5-1) at 3 p.m. Saturday in a Class AAA game.

In Class AA, Yough (11-5) could be a sleeper after drawing the No. 10 seed. The Cougars reached the semifinals last year but lost to Freedom, which moved to Class AAA.

“Even though our section was brutal, we did finish fourth in the section,” Yough coach Dann Appolonia said. “Even though I could argue we are better than a 10 seed, it’s fair and we won’t dwell on it.”

No. 7 Burrell (12-2-2) awaits the Cougars at 1 p.m. Saturday at Kiski Area in a playoff rematch from last year.

“I definitely think it’s the marquee game in the first round of 2A,” Appolonia said.

Additional Westmoreland matchups:

• No. 12 Hempfield (6-8) plays No. 5 Pine-Richland (13-3) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Pine-Richland in the Class AAAA first round.

• In Class AAA, No. 7 Kiski Area (13-4) takes on No. 10 Plum (12-5) at 3 p.m. Saturday at Kiski Area, and No. 16 Greensburg Salem (6-10-1) faces a tall task in No. 1 Mars (15-0) at 5 p.m. Saturday at Mars.

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.