Plum, Springdale among top seeds from A-K Valley focused on 1st-round WPIAL playoff foes

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, October 19, 2022 | 6:40 PM

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Despite temperatures in the low 40s Wednesday accompanied by rain and wind, 16 Alle-Kiski Valley boys and girls soccer teams felt the warmth of discovering the whos, whens and wheres of the upcoming WPIAL playoff tournaments.

“There’s always conjecture about what the bracket is going to look like, and then you soon realize who is where and what path might develop towards your ultimate goals,” said Plum girls coach Jamie Stewart, who will lead his No. 3 Mustangs against No. 14 Kiski Area at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Plum in the Class 3A first round.

“First and foremost, we have Kiski Area, and that is our sole focus right now. I know we will be ready to play them on Monday.”

Plum again is on the opposite side of bracket as No. 1 Mars, which defeated the Mustangs in the Class 3A title game each of the past three seasons. The Mustangs reached the PIAA semifinals last year, falling again to the Planets.

Kiski Area was one of the last teams to qualify in girls Class 3A as it defeated Indiana on Monday to secure a tie for fourth with the Indians in Section 1.

Kiski and Plum last met in the 2018 Class 3A first round with the Cavaliers winning, 4-0.

The eight WPIAL championship games will be Nov. 3-5 at Highmark Stadium.

First-round games begin Saturday with Class 3A boys matchups involving Plum and Kiski Area and Class A girls contests featuring Springdale and Riverview.

The Plum boys and Springdale girls, champions of their respective sections, own the best seeds of any A-K Valley teams. Both are No. 2 seeds.

The Mustangs, 16-1-1 overall, will be home at 2 p.m. Saturday against North Catholic, and they hope to begin a deep playoff run. Last year, they were edged out of a trip to states with a shootout loss to rival Franklin Regional in the third-place match.

Plum and FR split their season series, both finishing 13-1.

Moon is the top-seeded boys team in Class 3A.

“I told the guys the other day in practice that it is a new season, and everybody starts 0-0,” Plum coach Raf Kolankowski said. “We’ll see what happens. You have one little hiccup, and it’s all over. I know the guys will be very focused for Saturday. We’ve prepped them all season to be ready for right now.”

The Springdale girls, 13-3 in the regular season, captured the Section 1-A title, finishing one game ahead of No. 5 Greensburg Central Catholic.

The Dynamos, who swept GCC in their section series, open at noon Saturday against Sewickley Academy at Kiski Area.

“We’re going to take a look at what Sewickley has and prepare the best we can, but we know every team in the playoffs has things which make them good,” Springdale coach Marc Bentley said.

“All of the teams are there for a reason. We just want to go in ready to play our game and continue to do the things which got us here. It’s easy to look ahead to possible matchups, but we have to make sure we focus on the game right in front of us.”

The Deer Lakes boys, co-section champions with Shady Side Academy at 13-1, drew the No. 4 seed in Class 2A and will host No. 13 Hopewell at 6:30 p.m. Monday. The Lancers enter the playoffs 16-2 overall.

“It’s go time, definitely,” Deer Lakes coach Aaron Smith said. “The spirits are up with them, and they’re excited. We are confident and primed for another deep run like the one they had a couple of years ago with the WPIAL title and the (trip to) the state final. We’re playing some of our best ball right now. ”

The Lancers’ only other loss came to Burrell, the No. 7 seed in Class A, in late August. The Bucs host No. 10 Serra Catholic at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

A deep field in boys Class 3A has Kiski Area slotted as the No. 5 seed behind Moon, Plum, Thomas Jefferson and Franklin Regional. The Cavaliers, champions of Section 1 and 14-3 overall, will host No. 12 Gateway at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The Fox Chapel boys (No. 4, Class 4A) earned a bye into the quarterfinals and will begin play at home Oct. 29.

Other boys first-round matchups have Springdale (No. 6, Class A) taking on Carlynton at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Burrell, Knoch (No. 9, Class 2A) traveling to No. 8 McGuffey at 6:30 p.m. Monday, and Freeport (No. 15, Class 2A) paying a visit to No. 2 Quaker Valley at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

Additional girls first-round games have Class 2A No. 4 Knoch, champion of Section 2, taking on No. 13 Hopewell at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Freeport, while the Section 2 runner-up Yellowjackets are the No. 7 seed and host No. 10 Southmoreland at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Burrell (No. 9, Class 2A) will make a long trek to Beaver Country to face No. 8 Beaver at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Riverview (No. 13, Class A), led by one of the WPIAL’s most prolific goal scorers in junior Lola Abraham, will play at No. 4 Chartiers-Houston at 2 p.m. Saturday, and Valley (No. 16, Class 2A), a playoff qualifier for only the second time in its 20-year history, will take on No. 1 North Catholic at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at J.C. Stone Field in North Park.

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, Deer Lakes, Fox Chapel, Freeport, Kiski Area, Knoch, Plum, Riverview, Springdale, Valley