Shady Side Academy, Mars draw top seeds for WPIAL boys lacrosse playoffs

By: Bill Hartlep
Thursday, May 13, 2021 | 5:52 PM

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A canceled season kept Mars boys lacrosse from claiming a fifth straight WPIAL Class 2A championship last spring.

The Fightin’ Planets will have their chance to add to that total this month, and they will do so as the No. 1 seed in the tournament.

Mars earned the No. 1 seed Thursday when the WPIAL released the pairings for the Class 3A and 2A tournaments.

Shady Side Academy was awarded the top seed in Class 3A.

The top six teams in each section in both classes advanced to the playoffs.

The top seeds in Class 3A are Shady Side Academy, four-time WPIAL champion Mt. Lebanon, North Allegheny and Upper St. Clair.

Mars, Chartiers Valley, North Catholic and South Fayette are the top seeds in Class 2A.

The playoffs will begin with first-round games Monday and Tuesday. Quarterfinal matches will be next Wednesday and Thursday. The semifinals are scheduled for May 24.

The championships are set for May 26 or 27 at Robert Morris.

Check out complete brackets on Trib HSSN.

Here’s a look at the schedule for the opening rounds:

WPIAL playoffs

Class 3A

First round

Tuesday’s schedule

Canon-McMillan (8-6) at Seneca Valley (6-6), 6 p.m.; Penn-Trafford (3-8) at Pine-Richland (7-6), 8 p.m.; Norwin (6-4) at Peters Township (11-5), 6 p.m.; Fox Chapel (6-7) at Bethel Park (8-5), 6 p.m.

Bye: Shady Side Academy (12-3), Mt. Lebanon (10-2), North Allegheny (7-4), Upper St. Clair (10-2)

Class 2A

First round

Monday’s schedule

Shaler (6-8) at Franklin Regional (8-6), 6 p.m.; Trinity (3-9) at Hampton (10-4), 6 p.m.; Quaker Valley (6-5) at Indiana (10-4), 6 p.m.; Moon (5-8) at Sewickley Academy (8-4), 6 p.m.

Bye: Mars (15-0), Chartiers Valley (13-4), North Catholic (8-2), South Fayette (13-3)

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: Mars, Shady Side Academy