Alle-Kiski Valley WPIAL soccer playoff capsules for Monday, Nov. 1, 2021

By: Jerin Steele
Sunday, October 31, 2021 | 6:19 PM

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WPIAL soccer preview capsules

Boys

Class 3A

Semifinals

4-Plum (16-2-1) vs. 1-West Allegheny (19-0)

8 p.m. Monday at Newman Stadium, North Allegheny High School, Wexford

Winner plays: Winner of 2-Hampton (16-1)/3-Franklin Regional (14-3), 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Highmark Stadium

Notes: The Mustangs are in the semifinals for the second time in three years. They fell 7-1 to West Allegheny on the opening weekend of the season but have allowed only 11 goals since. Plum won 4-0 over Montour in the first round and 3-0 against Thomas Jefferson in the quarterfinals. They’ve had four consecutive shutouts and are on a 10-game winning streak. Luke Kolankowski has three goals in the postseason. He received all-state honors by the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association. Tristin Ralph, Zach Fulton, Dylan Akut and Ethan Rose have one goal each in the playoffs. … Mason Day, Will Douglas and Johnny Dragisich had two goals each as West Allegheny knocked off defending WPIAL and PIAA champ Mars, 6-0, in the quarterfinals. The Indians won 3-0 over Indiana in the first round. Dragisich led the team with 21 goals in the regular season. West Allegheny has yielded only five goals all season and has scored 107. They’ve won every match by two or more goals.

Girls

Class 1A

Semifinals

3-Steel Valley (16-3) vs. 2-Springdale (18-1)

6 p.m. Monday at Gateway’s Antimarino Stadium, Monroeville

Winner plays: Winner of 5-Freedom (14-4)/1-Greensburg Central Catholic (14-1), 8 p.m. Friday at Highmark Stadium

Notes: Both teams are guaranteed at least two more games. The winner heads to the title game, while the loser will play in the third-place game with a trip to states on the line … Steel Valley, seeking its first WPIAL title, scored 19 combined goals in victories over No. 14 Riverview, 13-0, and No. 6 Chartiers-Houston, 6-2, in the first two rounds. The Section 2 champion had won 10 in a row down the stretch in the regular season before a 3-2 loss to Bishop Canevin in its final game before the playoffs. Steel Valley also made the WPIAL semifinals a year ago. It was denied a trip to the finals with a 2-1 loss to OLSH. Kelsey Salopek, a 2020 all-state forward and a Kent State commit, is a lethal scoring threat for Steel Valley, as are Soraya Gibbs and Therese Doering … Springdale is in the WPIAL semifinals for the first time since 2012. The Dynamos’ lone loss came in a Section 1 battle with No. 1 Greensburg Central Catholic. Springdale has won nine games in a row. Freshman Briana Ross, junior Grace Gent and senior Morgan Fitzgerald scored for the Dynamos in a 3-2 semifinal win over No. 7 Seton LaSalle. Springdale led 2-0 early and withstood a rally from the Rebels.

Class 4A

Semifinals

9-Fox Chapel (10-7-1) vs. 4-Seneca Valley (15-3-2)

6 p.m. Monday at North Allegheny’s Newman Stadium, McCandless

Winner plays: Winner of 6-Peters Township (11-3-3)/2-Moon (14-1-1), 8 p.m. Thursday at Highmark Stadium.

Notes: The winning team will wrap up a spot in the PIAA playoffs … Fox Chapel beat No. 8 Bethel Park in the first round and knocked off No. 1 North Allegheny in the quarterfinals on penalty kicks. Makayla Mulholland, Mia Nury, Kate Friday, Lauren Rabbit and Addie Piper scored in the shootout against North Allegheny, and goalkeeper Molly McNaughton made two saves. The last time Fox Chapel reached the semifinal round was 2016 when it suffered a 1-0 loss to Norwin. The Foxes rebounded to top Mt. Lebanon, 1-0, in the third-place consolation and advanced to states. Fox Chapel posted eight shutouts in the regular season, giving up a total of 16 goals in 16 games … Seneca Valley punched its ticket to the semifinals with wins over No. 13 Penn-Trafford in the first round and No. 5 Norwin. The quarterfinal victory over the Knights came in overtime. Zoe Simpson scored twice in both wins. She scored the tying goal late in regulation against Norwin and then added the overtime winner. The win over Norwin avenged a regular-season loss to the Knights. Seneca Valley has won nine in a row.

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Plum, West Allegheny