WPIAL soccer consolations and girls volleyball semifinals share Wednesday spotlight

By: Don Rebel
Tuesday, October 29, 2019 | 11:31 PM

Nowadays, everybody gets a second chance at something.

In district consolation matches, that second chance is for gold. Teams may have missed out on a shot at a WPIAL championship, but win a consolation match and they’ll advance to the PIAA playoffs and a shot at a state title.

Such is the case for 12 teams that are in action on Consolation Wednesday in the WPIAL soccer playoffs.

On the boys side, a couple of former recent champions collide in the Class AA consolation match when Shady Side Academy faces South Park at 8 p.m. at Mars. The Indians are coming off back-to-back soccer titles in 2017-18 while the Eagles won it all five years ago in 2014.

In Class A, Springdale hopes to fare better in the third-place match this year than it did a year ago when it battles Carlynton at 6 p.m. at Moon. In the 2018 Class A consolation match, the Dynamos were shut out by Seton LaSalle, 2-0.

In the Class AAA consolation, Hampton takes on Blackhawk at 8 p.m. at Moon. Both made surprise runs to the semifinals after the Cougars were a No. 12 seed and the Talbots were a No. 6 seed when the brackets came out.

Girls soccer consolations

The participants in both the Class AAA and AA girls soccer consolation matches just hope to score a goal after all four were shut out in the semifinals Monday.

In AAA, West Allegheny faces Belle Vernon at 8 p.m. at Peters Township. The Indians lost in the semis to Mars, 2-0, while the Leopards were blanked by Plum, 1-0.

In AA, South Park takes on Freeport at 6 p.m. at Mars. In the semifinals, the Eagles fell to North Catholic, 4-0, while the Yellow Jackets were shut out by Yough, 3-0.

The Class A consolation is a rematch of last year’s championship match as Bentworth faces Freedom at 6 p.m. at Peters Township. In last year’s title match, the Bulldogs routed the Bearcats 8-2 for the team’s second girls soccer crown in three years.

Only two WPIAL teams qualify in the PIAA boys and girls Class AAAA soccer playoffs, so no consolation matches are needed.

Volleyball Final Four, Day One

The WPIAL girls volleyball playoffs have hit the final four with the Class AAAA and AAA semifinals set for Wednesday.

In the AAAA doubleheader at North Hills, two-time defending champion and top-seed North Allegheny faces 2006 WPIAL champion Moon at 7:30 p.m. Moon won a five-set thriller over Baldwin to reach the semis.

The 6 p.m. match features No. 2 seed Pine-Richland against No. 3 seed Canon-McMillan. While the Big Macs advanced with a sweep of Shaler, the Rams needed five sets to dispose of Oakland Catholic.

In the AAA twin bill at North Allegheny, No. 2-seed Thomas Jefferson faces No. 3-seed South Fayette at 6 p.m. The Lions have yet to lose a game in two playoff wins while the Jaguars needed four games to beat Chartiers Valley in the quarterfinals.

In the second match at 7:30 p.m., top seed Knoch takes on Franklin Regional. The Knights are trying to win a third straight district championship this week while the Panthers have yet to lose a game in two playoff wins.

All four matches can be heard here at TribHSSN.TribLive.com

Tags: Belle Vernon, Bentworth, Blackhawk, Canon-McMillan, Carlynton, Franklin Regional, Freedom, Freeport, Hampton, Knoch, Moon, North Allegheny, Pine-Richland, Shady Side Academy, South Fayette, South Park, Springdale, Thomas Jefferson, West Allegheny