What to watch for on Oct. 20, 2022: Spot in City League finals up for grabs

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, October 19, 2022 | 7:24 PM

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If the rematch for a spot in the City League football championship game is as good as the battle for second place was, then the University Prep against Allderdice matchup Thursday should be a dandy.

The Panthers and Ramblers met last week to close out the City League regular season with second place at stake.

University Prep took a lead after one quarter, 14-0, on a Daniel Cain 45-yard punt return and a Jaquille McIntosh 1-yard run.

Allderdice fought back with 21 unanswered points in the second quarter. Terrell James scored on runs of 43 and 7 yards and Azerick Jetter hit Cornell Weems on a 32-yard touchdown pass to give the Dragons a 7-point lead at the half.

Cain returned the opening kick of the second half 86 yards for a Panthers touchdown, but the two-point conversion pass was incomplete and that one point turned out to be the difference.

Now, on Thursday in their semifinals rematch, Allderdice will be the “home” team at Cupples Stadium while University Prep will be the visitors.

The winner advances to the City League championship game to face the other semifinals winner. Top seed and undefeated Westinghouse will play Perry in the other District 8 final four playoff game Friday.

Serving for a playoff spot

While 63 playoff spots have been secured for the WPIAL girls volleyball postseason, at least eight berths are up for grabs heading into the final night of section play Thursday.

• Section 2-4A: Upper St. Clair at Mt. Lebanon. The Panthers can clinch with a win and a Baldwin loss to Peters Township.

• Section 1-3A: Plum (8-2) at Penn Hills (5-6), Woodland Hills (5-6) at Hampton (11-0). The Indians and Wolverines can clinch with wins or if they both lose Thursday.

• Section 2-3A: Trinity (7-4) at Moon (8-3), South Fayette (7-4) at Oakland Catholic (7-4), West Allegheny (1-10) at Montour (8-3). Trinity can clinch with a win. The winner of the Lions at Eagles match will clinch. If Trinity and Oakland Catholic lose, both would be 7-5 and Eagles would clinch due to tiebreaker over Hillers. If Trinity loses to Moon, the South Fayette and Oakland Catholic loser will also clinch.

• Section 3-3A: Uniontown (6-7) at Ringgold (6-7), Laurel Highlands (6-7) at Belle Vernon (4-9), Elizabeth Forward (5-8) at Thomas Jefferson (13-0). The winner of Uniontown at Ringgold will clinch. Laurel Highlands can clinch with a win.

• Section 5-3A: Kiski Area (5-6) at Franklin Regional (5-6). This is a win-and-you’re-in match for the Cavaliers and Panthers.

• Section 4-2A: Hopewell (7-6) at Quaker Valley (10-3), Sto-Rox (0-13) at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (6-7). If Our Lady of the Sacred Heart beats Sto-Rox and Hopewell loses to Quaker Valley, OLSH will clinch a playoff spot.

Playoffs on the pitch begin

The 2022 WPIAL boys and girls soccer brackets are out with all of the first-round action set for Saturday, Monday and Tuesday.

However, the district playoffs get underway Thursday with one boys and one girls preliminary round match.

In boys Class 3A, Connellsville will host Ringgold in a pigtail match. The winner advances to play top seed Moon in the opening round Saturday.

The Rams and Falcons finished tied for fourth place in Section 3-3A with 8-6 records. Connellsville finished 10-7 overall while Ringgold was 8-10.

The two split their regular season matches with Connellsville winning 2-1 at home on Sept. 1, while Ringgold also won at home on Sept. 27, 4-3.

You can listen to the match at 6 p.m. Thursday on Trib HSSN.

In girls Class A, Bentworth faces Bishop Canevin in a play-in match at 7:30 p.m. at Peters Township Stadium.

The Bearcats finished in fourth place in Section 2 with an overall record of 6-9-1 while the Crusaders were fourth in Section 4 with a regular season record of 7-9.

This is the first meeting of the year between the teams. The winner is the No. 16 seed and will visit top-seeded Freedom at noon Saturday.

Good as gold

After a 24-hour weather delay, the 2022 WPIAL girls team tennis championships are set for the Janet L. Swanson Tennis Center at Washington & Jefferson.

In Class 3A, top-seeded Mt. Lebanon will battle No. 3 seed North Allegheny at 2:30 p.m. while the 2A finals precede at 1 p.m. when top-seeded Sewickley Academy faces No. 2 Knoch.

North Allegheny won six straight WPIAL girls team tennis titles between 2013-2018, their most recent championship.

Meanwhile, Mt. Lebanon has won 13 WPIAL girls team tennis titles, but none since sharing the title with Upper St. Clair in 1991.

The Blue Devils won the first district girls tennis championship in 1975.

Sewickley Academy has won eight WPIAL court crowns since winning their first in 2008. The Panthers are looking to repeat as 2A winners for the third time in school history (2008-09 and 2017-19).

Knoch’s only WPIAL girls tennis championship came two years ago when it edged Sewickley Academy, 3-2, in the 2020 finals.

For a berth in the PIAA playoffs, Bethel Park battles Shady Side Academy in the 3A consolation match at Sewickley Academy and South Park takes on Beaver in the 2A consolation match at North Allegheny.Both consolation matches are scheduled for 3 p.m.