Quaker Valley, Sewickley Academy soccer coaches endorse elimination of overtime

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, February 8, 2026 | 11:01 AM

The PIAA recently made a major rule change by eliminating overtime in regular-season games, meaning teams will settle on a draw if they are tied after 80 minutes of regulation.

A unanimous decision by the PIAA soccer committee led to the game-changing decision. The rule goes into effect for the 2026-27 season.

Overtime — one or two 15-minute golden goal periods — will be used for playoff contests.

Reducing injury risk and cutting the length of games are two of the main reasons the state decided to nix overtime.

Under current PIAA rules, teams play up to two 10-minute overtime periods trying to break the tie. But the PIAA wanted to eliminate in-season overtime in hopes of finishing games earlier on school nights.

Local coaches are proponents to the new format.

Maggie Behun and Rachel Loudermilk share the coaching duties of the Quaker Valley girls soccer team. They have been strong advocates of eliminating overtime in the regular season.

“Maggie and I have advocated for this change for years,” Loudermilk said. “It is great to see that the PIAA is making a change that will greatly benefit the players. The girls often have just 24 to 48 hours between games.

“Asking them to play 100 minutes and then turn around and possibly play another 100 minutes, it puts the girls in jeopardy of injury from overuse or injury from playing when fatigued. It also leads to late nights for players who are students first. So this change will support our players on the field and in the classroom. It is a big win for high school soccer.”

Behun said adopting the new format for the 2026-27 season is a positive move.

“We are pleased with the decision to not continue overtime in regular-season games,” Behun said. “Players have two to three games a week and practice on off days. Often, we worry about injury, exhaustion or the girls getting home late.

“The mental and physical demands are immense. We want the girls to show success on the field and in the classroom, so we firmly believe this is a move in the positive direction.”

Sewickley Academy girls soccer coach Gary Weber echoed his counterparts’ sentiments.

“This is a very positive change for the high school game,” he said. “The season and amount of games are very demanding on the players and the need to play overtime in the regular season is not essential in my opinion.

“This is especially true in nonsection games as they have no impact on each team’s section standings.”

Sean Ryan is in charge of the Quaker Valley boys soccer program. He fully supports the new format.

“The rule change brings the high school sport more in line with the rest of youth and professional soccer, which I fully back,” Ryan said. “The two main reasons are, one, that I believe our high school athletes are, more often than not, close to the ‘red zone’ of conditioning. Many cases these players are playing six days a week and inside of those six days can be three games.

“Secondly, I don’t believe that we need to ‘Americanize’ soccer by doing our best to exclude the reality of a tie. The strategy involved in defending two halves well resulting in a draw against a team who may be more talented than you is a valuable part of the sport.”

Tags: Quaker Valley, Sewickley Academy