WPIAL girls soccer championship preview: 3 teams bring repeat dreams to Highmark

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, November 3, 2021 | 6:22 PM

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A pair of WPIAL schools will be playing for the triple crown this week.

Both North Catholic and Greensburg Central Catholic have teams playing for WPIAL championships in boys soccer, girls soccer and girls volleyball Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

A year ago, the Mars and Greensburg Central Catholic boys and girls soccer teams both won district crowns. They became the ninth and 10th schools in WPIAL history to pull off that rare feat, and it was the first time two teams did it in the same year.

No district school has ever won WPIAL titles in all three sports — boys soccer, girls soccer and girls volleyball — in the same season.

Three other schools have a chance to win two WPIAL titles in the next few days. Seneca Valley has both the boys and girls soccer teams in the 4A finals, Hampton has their boys soccer and girls volleyball teams in the 3A finals, and Avonworth has teams playing for gold in girls soccer and girls volleyball.

All eight soccer finals are at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh and the four volleyball championships are at the new UPMC Events Center at Robert Morris University.

All 12 title matches will be video streamed only at TribHSSN.TribLive.com

Here is a look at the four WPIAL girls soccer championships coming up on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Class 4A

No. 2 Moon (15-1-1) vs. No. 4 Seneca Valley (16-3-2)

8 p.m. Thursday at Highmark Stadium

Playoff path: Moon defeated Butler, 1-0, Peters Township, 1-0 on penalty kicks; Seneca Valley defeated Penn-Trafford, 6-0, Norwin, 4-3 in overtime, Fox Chapel, 1-0

Streaking: Moon has won five straight while Seneca Valley has a 10-game winning streak.

Golden history: The Tigers have won three WPIAL girls soccer crowns in 2004, ’16, ’17. The Raiders won WPIAL titles in 2009, ’13, ’14, ’18.

Players to watch: Hailey Longwell, Moon; Natalie Matthews, Seneca Valley

Pitch factoids: Moon won the Section 2-4A title while Seneca Valley finished second in Section 1. The Raiders beat the Tigers, 1-0, in a 2019 4A quarterfinals match.

Class 3A

No. 2 Plum (19-1-1) vs. No. 1 Mars (15-0-1)

1:15 p.m. Saturday at Highmark Stadium

Playoff path: Plum defeated Laurel Highlands, 7-1, Hampton, 3-1, South Fayette, 2-0; Mars defeated Penn Hills, 7-0, Oakland Catholic, 6-0, Montour, 1-0

Streaking: Plum has won three straight while Mars has a 15-game winning streak.

Golden history: The Mustangs have never won a WPIAL girls soccer championship. The Fightin’ Planets have won seven WPIAL crowns: 2000, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’15, ’19, ’20.

Players to watch: Kaitlyn Killinger, Plum; Aly Cooper, Mars

Pitch factoids: Mars is trying to become the fourth WPIAL girls soccer program to three-peat and the first school to do it twice. Sewickley Academy won in 2002, ’03 and ’04, South Park won in 2006, ’07, ’08, and Mars did it one other time in 2010, ’11, ’12. This is the third straight year the Fightin’ Planets and Mustangs have collided in the 3A finals. Mars won 4-0 in 2019 and 1-0 in last year’s championship match.

Class 2A

No. 6 Avonworth (15-3-1) vs. No. 1 North Catholic (17-1)

11 a.m. Saturday at Highmark Stadium

Playoff path: Avonworth defeated Burrell, 2-0, South Park, 3-1, Southmoreland, 4-1; North Catholic defeated Waynesburg Central, 10-0, Yough, 4-0, Shady Side Academy, 3-1

Streaking: Avonworth has won five straight while North Catholic has a nine-game winning streak.

Golden history: The Antelopes have never won a WPIAL girls soccer championship. The Trojans had never won one either before taking back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2020.

Players to watch: Gianna Babusci, Avonworth; Jayden Sharpless, North Catholic

Pitch factoids: Section 1-2A is representing in the finals with both section champion North Catholic and runner-up Avonworth. In the two regular season meetings, the Trojans won at home, 4-0, while the Antelopes earned a split with a 2-1 home victory three weeks later. This is the second straight year these programs have battled for district gold. North Catholic beat Avonworth in the 2A finals last year, 1-0.

Class A

No. 3 Steel Valley (17-3) vs. No. 1 Greensburg Central Catholic (15-1)

6 p.m. Friday at Highmark Stadium

Playoff path: Steel Valley defeated Riverview, 13-0, Chartiers-Houston, 6-2, Springdale, 1-0; Greensburg Central Catholic defeated Eden Christian, 9-0, Riverside, 2-1 in overtime, Freedom, 4-3

Streaking: Steel Valley has won three straight while Greensburg Central Catholic has a 13-game winning streak.

Golden history: The Ironmen have never won a WPIAL girls soccer championship. The Centurions have won eight WPIAL crowns: 2005, ’11, ’12, ’14, ’15, ’17, ’20.

Players to watch: Kelsey Salopek, Steel Valley; Sara Felder, Greensburg Central Catholic

Pitch factoids: GCC is one of three girls soccer teams hoping to successfully repeat by winning district gold. The Centurions were co-champs in Section 1 with No. 2 seed Springdale. The Ironmen, who beat the Dynamos in the semifinals, were the Section 2-A champions. Steel Valley nearly faced Greensburg Central Catholic in the 2020 finals, but the No. 2-seeded Ironmen lost to OLSH, 2-1 in overtime in the semifinals.

Tags: Avonworth, Greensburg C.C., Mars, Moon, North Catholic, Plum, Seneca Valley, Steel Valley