Breaking down changes to the 2023-24 WPIAL girls lacrosse alignment

By: Bill Hartlep
Monday, August 8, 2022 | 12:01 AM

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The WPIAL released new section alignments for the next two-year cycle in all sports, and changes will be implemented starting this fall.

This summer, the Tribune-Review will break down changes for each of the WPIAL sports.

Here’s a look at the upcoming WPIAL girls lacrosse season:

2022 WPIAL champions

Class 3A: Shady Side Academy

Class 2A: Chartiers Valley

Notable changes

• Among the changes for the next two years of WPIAL girls lacrosse will be a smaller group of teams in Class 3A.

Latrobe, Penn-Trafford and Moon dropped down to Class 2A, leaving just 19 teams in the higher classification.

Sewickley Academy moved from Section 2 to Section 1, which will have nine teams.

Section 2 will have 10 teams, including Allderdice, which slid over from Section 1.

Both Sewickley Academy and defending champion Shady Side Academy elected to play up in class again this cycle.

• In Class 2A, Latrobe and Penn-Trafford will join Section 1, while Moon will be in Section 2.

In addition, Aquinas Academy will move over from Section 1 to 2 so that there will be equal 12-team sections.

• The top six teams in each section will qualify for the WPIAL playoffs. The top two finishers in Class 3A and top three teams from Class 2A will advance to the PIAA tournament.

Past champions

• Mt. Lebanon and Peters Township have each won five WPIAL girls lacrosse championships, tops in the league’s 19-year history. Peters Township won three straight crowns from 2007-09 and then back-to-back in 2012-13.

Mt. Lebanon won the league’s first three titles in 2004-06 before also winning in ’14 and ’16.

Shady Side Academy has won the past three championships in Class 3A (2019, ’21, ’22). The 2020 season was canceled because of the pandemic.

Other teams with multiple titles include Quaker Valley (3), Shaler (3), Hampton (2) and Pine-Richland (2).

• The WPIAL expanded to two classes in 2009.

Key dates

March 6: First practice date

March 11: First scrimmage date

March 17: First play date

March 24: First section date

May 24-25: WPIAL championships

June 10: PIAA championships

2023-24 alignment

Class 3A (19 teams)

Section 1: Baldwin, Bethel Park, Canon-McMillan, Hempfield, Mt. Lebanon, Norwin, Peters Township, Sewickley Academy*, Upper St. Clair

Section 2: Allderdice, Butler, Fox Chapel, Freeport^, North Allegheny, North Hills, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley, Shady Side Academy*, Shaler

Class 2A (24 teams)

Section 1: Ellis School, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Hampton, Indiana, Latrobe, Oakland Catholic, Penn-Trafford, Plum, Winchester Thurston, Yough

Section 2: Ambridge, Aquinas Academy, Blackhawk^, Chartiers Valley, Knoch, Mars, Moon, North Catholic, Quaker Valley, Seton LaSalle, South Fayette, Trinity

*Voluntary playing up

^Cooperative sponsorship

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.