What to watch for in WPIAL sports for Sept. 26, 2022: Golfers begin championship tournaments

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, September 25, 2022 | 2:38 PM

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The top district golfers in Class 2A boys and in both 3A and 2A girls will put ball on tee Monday morning to begin the first two rounds of the WPIAL golf championships.

The new format has the championships being played on two days at two different golf courses.

In boys 2A, 77 golfers will participate in the first round set to begin at 9 a.m. at Hannastown Golf Club in Greensburg.

The top 36 scores from Monday’s boys 2A first round will move on to the championship round.

For qualifiers, the first round score carries over to the start of the finals, so consistency counts.

The boys 2A second round finals are set for Oct. 4, at Oakmont Country Club.

In girls golf, there will be no cutoffs as 27 Class 3A and 18 Class 2A golfers will shoot for gold, starting Monday with 18 holes at Youghiogheny Country Club in McKeesport.

The girls second round finals will be Oct. 4 at Valley Brook Country Club in McMurray.

While all will move on to the girls second round, it still will be a combined score of the two-day event.

WPIAL girls section soccer, take two

The second half of section play around WPIAL girls soccer begins for most teams Monday.

One midseason dandy is for at least a share of first place in Section 1-3A as defending champion Mars visits Hampton.

The Fightin’ Planets are rolling again in 2022, having won all six of their section matches and all seven of their games overall.

Mars has only allowed two goals all season.

One of them was in the first meeting at home against Hampton. The Fightin’ Planets opened up their schedule with a victory over the Talbots, 5-1.

It was the only loss of the year thus far for Hampton, which has won seven straight.

Mars has won three straight WPIAL and PIAA girls soccer championships.

Another big section battle for first place will pit two undefeated section teams against each other for the first time this season in a rematch of the 2021 WPIAL Class 2A finals.

North Catholic and Avonworth are each 5-0 atop Section 1-2A and will fight for first Monday at Avonworth.

The Trojans and Antelopes are a combined 15-2 overall this season, each with a nonsection loss.

North Catholic (6-1) lost their season opener to Fox Chapel and has won six straight.

Avonworth (9-1) lost to Bethel Park in its third match of the season and has now won seven in a row.

The two will meet again in North Park on Oct. 14.

The two rivals met for district gold last November with the Antelopes knocking off the two-time defending champion Trojans in overtime, 2-1.

Avonworth and North Catholic faced off again 20 days later in the PIAA semifinals with the Antelopes winning 3-0. The ‘Lopes’ run ended in Hershey as they lost to Allentown Central Catholic in the state finals, 2-1.

Golden showcase on the court

Another busy week of WPIAL girls volleyball action begins with two of the top district programs doing battle in a nonsection showdown Monday.

Bishop Canevin has won five straight WPIAL Class A championships, seven district titles in the last nine years and is off and running in first place in Section 3-A with a perfect 6-0 record.

North Catholic has won back-to-back WPIAL Class 2A crowns, three district championships in the last four years and won PIAA gold in 2019 and 2021. The Trojans are also in first place in Section 4-3A with a prefect 5-0 record.

These two girls volleyball powerhouses collide Monday as the Crusaders visit the Trojans.

Watch the match at 7:15 p.m. on Trib HSSN.

Tags: Avonworth, Bishop Canevin, Hampton, Mars, North Catholic