It's time for area soccer teams to make their pitch on the pitch.

And plenty of them will be doing so.

The WPIAL soccer playoffs begin this weekend and 10 Butler County high school teams will be participating.

Six of those 10 — Mars boys and girls, Freeport boys and girls, Seneca Valley and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic boys — are entering postseason play as either co-section or outright section champions.

Their records are mind-boggling.

Add Karns City and Slippery Rock boys to the mix and the county's seven boys soccer teams in the playoffs sport a combined 97-18-6 record in the regular season.

The section records of the five county boys soccer teams in the WPIAL playoffs is a ridiculous 51-3-6.

MaxPreps has Seneca Valley's boys ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 19 nationally. The Raiders have allowed two goals all season.

Tradition is all over the place with these teams. Neither Karns City's boys or girls soccer teams have lost all season. The Gremlin girls reached the state semifinals last year.

The Gremlin boys recently completed their first-ever undefeated regular season. KC's girls lost one regular season game a year ago — to Freeport, coached by former Gremlin great Brittni Grenninger — and they avenged that defeat this year.

Seneca Valley and Mars' girls have won WPIAL soccer titles in recent years. The Planets have won the state championship.

Then there is the new-found success.

Butler's girls are back in the WPIAL playoffs for the first time in 13 years. Freeport's boys won their first section title in 17 years and the Yellowjacket girls claimed their first section crown in 10 years.

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's boys won their first-ever section title this season and are in the WPIAL playoffs for the first time in over 20 years.

So where does all this soccer success come from?

Youth programs, of course, and increased club soccer participation.

Butler Junior High boys soccer coach Mike Zirpoli said he had five or six players on the roster with club soccer experience when he came on the job seven years ago.

This year, 12 of the 15 seventh-graders on the team played club soccer.

The Golden Tornado varsity boys soccer team missed the playoffs this year despite an 8-6-4 overall record. With the influx of talent coming through the system, look for Butler's boys to join the crowded postseason soccer party over the next few years.

A WPIAL title or two may be in store for the county over the next couple of weeks. And who knows how long the Karns City and Slippery Rock teams will keep on playing?

Kudos to all of the coaches, players and supporters involved with all these successful programs.

Winning may not be everything, but it seems to be all these kids know.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle