PITTSBURGH - The Fox Chapel girls soccer team prevented South Fayette from three-peating as WPIAL Class 3A champions Wednesday night at Highmark Stadium. Lily McLaughlin scored off an assist from Emily McKee in double overtime to give the Foxes their first WPIAL championship since they won Class 4A in 2023.

​South Fayette knocked off Fox Chapel 4-0 in the final last season. The Foxes were unhappy with being tripped up by South Fayette last season and wanted to bounce back.

Deer Lakes holds off determined Bobcats
The sixth-seeded Lancers boys soccer team weren't exactly Cinderellas by the time they reached the WPIAL Class 2A final. Deer Lakes was playing a higher seeded team that was read hot. The Bobcats ripped apart Avonworth, beating them by six goals in the semifinals. Beaver started slow against Deer Lakes and never took a lead during a 3-2 decision Wednesday night at Highmark Stadium.

Zane Spencer scored the winning goal in the 68th minute for the Lancers. Anthony Furda and Caleb Kullen each scored for the Bobcats. 

The Plum and Mars girls' soccer teams have been battling in the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs for the past six seasons. The Mustangs got their first win over the Planets in five meetings Thursday night at Plum. Allison Porter converted the winning kick for the Mustangs.

Read my story on the event in the Tribune Review. During regulation and overtime, there weren't too many solid scoring options for either side.

SPRINGDALE - The Springdale girls soccer won a wild match in the first round of the WPIAL Class 1A playoffs. The Dynamos scored a goal in the final minutes to grab a 2-1 win over Chartiers-Houston. Read my story about the match in the Tribune Review.

SHALER TWP - Mars boys soccer coach Chris Knauff smiled big when huddling with his team under three balloons indicating he had hit the 300-win mark Tuesday night at Biles Field.

Knauff, who is in his final season as coach, will only have to worry about preparing for the matches ahead of him in the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs and not anything else.

By beating Shaler 2-1 in a Section 1-3A match, Knauff became the second Planet soccer coach to hit a win milestone this fall.
Blair Gerlach, the Planets’ girls coach, hit his 400th win early this season.

“It was nice to hit that milestone during the regular season and not be thinking about it in the playoffs,” Knauff said. “We’ve got a good program on both sides. It’s fun to be a part of.”

The Planets (11-5-2, 9-1-2) won the match in unique fashion. Senior keeper Eli Stasiowski scored his first career goal.
Stasiowski launched a free kick from near midfield that took a large leap off the turf, went through Shaler keeper Brian Hegerty’s hands and landed in the back of the net.

“As soon as I saw it go through his hands, if this goes in, I was telling my guys at halftime ‘Hey, we just gotta put some pressure on this keeper and see what happens’” Stasiowski said. “And there it was, it was kind of like I told you so moment. It was amazing to see the ball go in.”

It wasn’t something he was eager to celebrate.

Stasiowski wouldn’t have wanted to be in that position himself.

“I can’t celebrate on the other keepers when they slip up,” Stasiowski said. “It doesn’t feel right.”

Not much was in Mars’ favor in the first half. The Planets had a goal waved off for offside. Shaler (12-4, 8-3) ended up taking the lead in the 36th minute when Anthony Tylenda launched a shot from well outside the box that found its way in.

“I thought we played well tonight,” Titans coach Tyler Schultz said. “At the beginning of the season, people probably didn’t expect us to be here. We’ll see what cards are dealt tomorrow and whatever the fallout is of this game and we’ll see where we stand.”

Mars came out in the second half eager to cut into the deficit.

The Planets evened the match when Frank Knezovich was able to get on the end of the cross and guide the ball into the net on the back post.

“We knew we needed to press them and they came with a lot of energy,” Knauff said. 

Stasiowski’s goal allowed Mars to lock up second place in the section.

When the WPIAL playoff brackets are released Tuesday, the Planets will likely be awarded a home game.

“It’s incredible, especially during my senior season in the last section match of my career to end on a win,” Stasiowski said. “I got my first goal and the coach got his 300th win. It’s amazing to be a part of.”

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.​

Alex Gaetano scored the overtime goal to help the long-suffering Shaler boys soccer team earn its first spot in the playoffs in 16 years. The Titans have made a living by winning close contests this season. Shaler averages 2.2 goals per game, while conceding 1.6 per contest. Shaler also isn't just sneaking into the playoffs.

The Titans (10-3, 8-2) have rolled off six consecutive wins in section to put themselves in the running to win the title outright. Shaler's last defeat was a 4-0 loss to Hampton (9-2-2, 6-0-2). The Titans will play Shaler next Tuesday at Biles Field.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

SHALER TWP - Carlo Prati watched the Fox Chapel girls soccer team, with six new starters, go through the learning process together Monday night at Biles Field.

In the first half, Fox Chapel learned the importance of variety in the attack. During the second half of the Foxes' 2-1 Section 1-3A win over Shaler, Fox Chapel worked on situational awareness. The Foxes played the last 24 minutes down a player after Caylie Wilkinson was issued a straight red card for an aggressive foul.

Prati said after the match he was told Wilkinson had slapped a Shaler player on the follow through to an attempted tackle.

Prati was happy with how the Foxes (2-0, 1-0) handled things down the stretch. If anything, Prati was worried they were too aggressive. Emily McKee, who recently gave a verbal commitment to Pitt, scored both of the Foxes' goals.

"I thought they did really well," Prati said. "At times, I had to keep telling them to hold back a little bit because they wanted to attack. We wanted to try and play the ball in the corner and run out of here with a win."

Shaler (0-1, 0-1) was happy to see progress against Fox Chapel. The Titans made the WPIAL playoffs for the first time in four decades last season. During their two meetings with Fox Chapel, Shaler was outscored 10-2.

Naudia Zotter scored the Titans' goal Monday night to cut the deficit to one goal in the 70th minute. 

Titans coach Bill Ament watched the film of the second match with Fox Chapel last season -- a 5-1 defeat -- before the teams met again. What stood out to Ament was how his players had grown physically. Sophomore defender Lily Trgovic was one of the many players that stood out to Ament.

"They looked like little babies last year," Ament said. "Lilly Trgovic looked liked one of the smallest people on the field. She was ready to go (on Monday). We are bigger, faster and stronger than they were last year." 

Fox Chapel controlled most of the possession in the first half, but had a hard time generating chances. McKee created the spark in the 25th minute. She beat Shaler defender Zoey Cieslak in the race for a 50-50 ball. From there, McKee was able to get the ball inside the box and sneak a shot past Shaler keeper Paige Querio.

"I thought we did OK," Ament said. "We have a lot of the same girls from last year. We were hoping to be more competitive and thankfully we were. We made two mistakes and unfortunately it found Emily's foot both times. I can't say how proud I am of these girls. I've been waiting for this feeling when we go against elite competition and almost pull one off."

Fox Chapel wasn't able to generate much else in the attack during the first half. The Foxes would get the ball forward, but weren't able to get the last connecting pass to put the shots away.

"We were very predictable," Prati said. "I told them that at halftime, you can't be so predictable every time going to the same person over and over again, making the same runs. With six new starters, it's going to take time with them getting used to each other."

In the second half, McKee doubled Fox Chapel's lead on a shot from 25 yards out in the 58th minute. She launched the ball from outside the box into the top corner that went above the leaping Querio.

McKee nearly scored again in the 63rd minute, hitting a looping shot that bounced off the crossbar.

"In the pregame, she hammered one in the upper corner," Prati said. "I said 'Emily, let's see if we can do that tonight.' The second goal she scored was a laser. After that, she hit that one off the crossbar. She helped us for sure today."

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshrizzo.