PIAA soccer quarterfinals | Keys for Mars and Freeport girls, North Catholic and Seneca Valley boys
Butler County soccer teams are off to a strong start in the PIAA tournament. Now it’s time to see who can survive and advance in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what to expect this weekend in the boys and girls games that will determine Tuesday’s state semifinalists:
Site/time: Armstrong HS, 2:00 p.m.
Up next: Winner of 1-3 Gwynedd Mercy (14-4-4) vs. 7-2 Shaler (16-4)
Key to the game: The Beavers impressed in the first round, dispatching WPIAL No. 3 seed Penn-Trafford 4-1. Junior striker Anna Korney, a Penn State commit, scored all four goals and has found the net over 40 times this season.
“Penn-Trafford played about 45 minutes of that game with 10 players because of a red card,” Mars head coach Blair Gerlach said. “But DuBois has some talented players and they reached the state semifinals last year.”
Top threats for Mars include forwards Mackenzie Powell and Miley Gratton and midfielders Jade Breese and HB Wolski.
Site/time: Mansion Park Stadium, Altoona, 2:00 p.m.
Up next: Winner of 10-1 Cathedral Prep (20-1-1) vs. 7-2 Burrell (17-2-4)
Key to the game: It’s a rematch of last year’s state quarterfinal, won by the Yellowjackets 1-0. While the Crusaders have one big scoring threat in senior midfielder Harper Bolesky (30 goals), Freeport has a pair of 25-goal scorers in forwards Cecelia Schlegel and Maggie Conger, plus midfielder Ella McConville (15 goals and 20 assists). That balance gives the Yellowjackets a huge edge on the offensive end.
Site/time: Chambersburg HS, 12:30 p.m.
Up next: Winner of 7-2 North Allegheny (13-4-3) vs. 1-5 West Chester Henderson (17-5-2)
Key to the game: Seneca Valley head coach George Williams said after Wednesday’s win over Conestoga Valley his team “needs to tighten things up a lot more. Our next opponent will be at a much higher level. Abington beat us last year. We know what they can do.” The defending state champion Galloping Ghosts beat the Raiders 4-1 in the state semis a year ago.
Site/time: Gateway HS, 12:00 p.m.
Up next: Winner of 7-2 Quaker Valley (14-6-2) vs. 10-1 Fairview (21-0)
Key to the game: Belle Vernon defeated the Trojans 2-0 in the WPIAL semifinals en route to winning the district title earlier this month. “We did a lot of things well in that game, but they converted their chances and we did not,” North head coach Scott Schlegel said. “We need to focus on finishing and working hard off the ball.”
North features a balanced attack, with Jake Olkowski (16 goals), Jackson Schlegel (14) and Ryan Mueser (13) leading the team.
John Enrietto contributed to this report.
