With some A-K Valley boys soccer teams already in the playoffs, others still fighting for spots

By: Greg Macafee
Wednesday, October 8, 2025 | 7:59 PM

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As the boys soccer regular season inches toward the end, teams around the Alle-Kiski Valley are preparing for their postseason run or looking to secure their spot in the WPIAL playoffs.

Four teams — Plum, Fox Chapel, Deer Lakes and Springdale — have qualified for the postseason. Plum (14-2-1, 8-0-1) and Fox Chapel (11-1-0, 7-0-0) both have undefeated conference records and stand atop their sections in Class 4A.

Deer Lakes (12-3-1, 10-1-1) is second in Section 1-2A and the Dynamos (10-3-1, 7-1-0) trail only Winchester Thurston in Section 4-A as the final team from the area to earn a playoff spot.

Four more teams — Riverview, Freeport, Highlands and Knoch — still have hope.

Knoch, Riverview and Highlands are in fourth place in their respective sections with two section games remaining. Knoch (5-9-1, 4-5-1) seems to be in a prime position to qualify.

The Knights face Mars on Thursday and then host Hampton on Tuesday. Indiana sits right behind Knoch in the Section 1-3A standings, with matchups against Hampton and Armstrong remaining. However, Knoch holds the tiebreaker over Indiana and can earn a playoff berth if the two teams finish in a tie.

After going 3-1-1 during a five-game stretch in the middle of their schedule, which included a 1-1 double-overtime tie with Winchester Thurston, the Raiders (5-8-1, 2-5-1) have hit a rough patch. They have suffered a rash of injuries that has led to four straight losses, three in section.

On top of losing four starters to injury, which included junior captain Liam Ulrich, freshman goalkeeper Tristan Groenvynck and freshman midfielder Ben Radelet, coach Mickey Namey has had to rely on a short bench filled with young players.

“We knew these last six games, five of them being sectional matchups, we were going to be without four starters, and we only had a roster of 17 to begin with,” Namey said. “So we’re playing teams with 13 guys, and it’s tough when you play good competition.”

Namey said they will get a couple of kids back ahead of their matchup with St. Joseph on Thursday, but they might not be back to full health until the first round of the playoffs. Still, he has seen his team fight through adversity for a chance at success.

Heading into the Raiders’ final two matchups against St. Joseph and Trinity Christian — they need to win only one to secure their playoff spot — Namey said that was the message he wanted to send.

“I don’t want these losses to affect all the hard work they did throughout the offseason,” he said. “A two-week span can’t diminish a year’s work. You have to look at the positives. We can build off these next couple games and maybe pull an upset off.

“We’re playing good soccer. The numbers and the injuries just kind of caught up to us these last four or five games and kinda put our backs against the wall.”

Highlands (7-6-1, 6-5-1) also controls its own destiny. The Rams trail North Catholic, Deer Lakes and Shady Side Academy, respectively, in Section 1-2A.

While their season has been full of ups and downs, the Golden Rams recently have built confidence. They lost to North Catholic, 2-1, on Sept. 27, but played a tough game, showcasing the improvements they made throughout the season.

Then, earlier this week, they struck early and held on to get a much-needed win over Freeport, 1-0.

“I took over at the start of the 2024 season, and Freeport has been a team that we have not beaten,” coach Ethan Gillette said. “We’ve tied them twice, once on their field last year and tied them earlier this year. We played a game on our home field last year, and it kind of eliminated us from any chance at the postseason … so it was definitely good for the boys to get that mental block out of the way of never being able to beat Freeport and they were finally able to get the job done.”

Highlands still has matchups against Burrell (4-12, 4-8) and Shady Side (9-4-1, (8-3-1) and needs to win one of those games to make the playoffs.

The Golden Rams haven’t reached the playoffs since 2004.

Gillette, a Highlands alum, was 3 years old when that happened and has tried to accomplish that goal ever since, first as a player and now as a coach.

“Our goal this year was to make the playoffs and see what happens after that,” Gillette said. “Finishing out the season strong and playing a good defensive style of soccer is going to get us to where we want to be. So we just need to keep our momentum rolling through these last two games.”

Freeport is still alive but needs help. The Yellowjackets (9-6-1, 5-6-1) must win their two remaining sectional matchups against Deer Lakes and Burrell, along with Highlands losing its final two games.

The full playoff brackets will be announced during the WPIAL Soccer Playoff Pairing Show on Trib HSSN on Wednesday.

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Freeport, Highlands, Knoch, Riverview