WPIAL girls soccer semifinals on tap in Saturday’s 3 things to watch in high school sports

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, October 26, 2018 | 8:43 PM

In this decade, Peters Township and Norwin have each captured two WPIAL girls soccer championships.

On Saturday, the Indians and Knights square off for a spot in the Class 4A district title game.

The match at Elizabeth Forward is one of eight semifinals as eight teams will be one step closer to WPIAL gold on the pitch.

Peters Township won championships in 2010 and again two years later in 2012.

Norwin has become used to reaching the district finals as the Knights are trying to make a fourth straight trip to the title game. Norwin won back-to-back championships in 2015 and ‘16.

Tennis state semifinals

Five out of six district girls’ tennis teams advanced out of Round 1 and into the state quarterfinals Friday at the Hershey Racquet Club.

Three of those teams picked up wins and are now two victories from a PIAA tennis crown.

Those wins will have to come on Saturday as the state holds both the semifinals in the morning and the championship finals in the afternoon.

North Allegheny is trying to repeat in Class AAA and earn its fifth state title in the last six years. The Tigers will face Conestoga in the semifinals at 11:30 a.m.

While WPIAL teams have had great success this decade in Class AAA, a district team has not won it all in Class AA since Sewickley Academy in 2011.

Two teams have reached the Class AA final four as Sewickley Academy faces District 1 champion Lower Moreland at 8 a.m. and Knoch takes on District 3 champion Wyomissing at 9:30 a.m.

Football regular season ends

The final day of the 2018 WPIAL regular season features one conference football game and two nonconference frays.

Well, kind of.

Laurel takes its slim Class A wild card hopes to Northgate for a noon kickoff at Northgate in a Big 7 Conference finale.

At 12:30 p.m., Summit Academy looks for its first win of the season as it hosts playoff-bound and Midwestern Athletic Conference champion Mohawk in a nonconference game.

Then at 1:30 p.m., Imani Christian hosts Chartiers-Houston at historic Graham Field in Wilkinsburg in what is technically a nonconference game.

However, this is the Saints cross-over game and it counts for them in the standings and in Gardner points and WPIAL tiebreaker points.

If Imani Christian wins, that will clinch the second wild card spot based on Gardner points and they will return to the district playoffs.

A year ago, the Saints reached the Class A championship game where they lost a heartbreaker to Jeannette.

Don Rebel is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Don at drebel@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TheDonRebel.

Tags: Chartiers-Houston, Imani Christian, Knoch, Laurel, Mohawk, North Allegheny, Norwin, Peters Township, Sewickley Academy, Summit Academy