Undefeated C-M girls not top seed for WPIAL soccer playoffs
Canon McMillan’s Sabrina Bryan celebrates with teammate Lauren Hess (16) after scoring the Big Macs’ first goal in the PIAA Class AAA girls’ soccer championship game last season.
Canon-McMillan senior Allie Thomas (17) is looking to lead the Big Macs back to the WPIAL and PIAA championship games.
An undefeated regular season was not enough to earn Canon-McMillan’s girls soccer team the top seed in the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs.
The Big Macs (16-0-1), who reached the PIAA and WPIAL championships last fall, enter the postseason as the No. 2 seed and will face Hempfield (9-6-2) in the first round Saturday (4 p.m.) at home.
Norwin (18-0), which has recorded eight consecutive shutouts and 15 this season, received the top seed. Canon-McMillan head coach Dave Derrico doesn’t mind. Being No. 2 is far from the position the Big Macs were in last fall and the goal – a return to Highmark Stadium, which will host the title matches Nov. 6-7 – is still the same.
Canon-McMillan’s journey to Hershey last fall began as the No. 10 seed in the WPIAL playoffs.
“We’re going to approach it the same way. We aren’t changing our philosophy or anything because of where we’re seeded,” Derrico said. “We’re approaching it with hard work, not taking anything for granted and going out there every match proving we belong.”
The Big Macs’ lone blemish this season is a tie against Upper St. Clair, which received the No. 3 seed.
With the majority of its offense back, including senior midfielder Allie Thomas and junior forward Aideen O’Donoghue, plus a defense that has 12 shutouts, Canon-McMillan won the Section 4-AAA title.
Thomas and O’Donoghue, a Rutgers recruit, are tied for the team-lead with 20 goals and junior forward Sabrina Bryan has 18.
“We have the offense to do the job this year. We seem to be coming up with a goal or two when we really need them,” Derrico said. “Hopefully, that continues. We have a really good offense and, though it’s nice that Norwin, Peters (Township) and Moon are on the other side of the bracket, we’ll certainly have challenges.”
Peters Township (13-4) is the 12th seed and will travel to No. 5 Pine-Richland (14-2-1) Saturday at 4 p.m.
In Class AA girls, Waynesburg (11-3-1), which finished second in Section 4, is the eighth seed and will face No. 9 Yough (9-6-2) Saturday at Mt. Pleasant (2 p.m.). The Raiders are in the playoffs for the first time since 2008.
“I’m kind of surprised by the location and the opponent, but it is what it is,” Waynesburg coach Joe Kijowski said. “The first two matches in the playoffs, you have to build up your credibility. These have girls been waiting a long time for a playoff match and they’ll be excited when we get to practice.”
No. 13 Ringgold (10-4-3) plays at No. 4 Mt. Pleasant (13-2-2) at 4 p.m. Saturday, and No. 3 South Fayette (2-4-2), which was the runner up in Section 5, hosts Freeport (10-7-1) at 4 p.m.
In Class A girls, all first-round matches will be played Saturday at 2 p.m. Charleroi (14-1-2), which won its second consecutive Section 2 title, is the No. 2 seed and will play Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (7-9-1) at Canon-McMillan beginning at 2 p.m. The Cougars have 11 shutouts.
Bentworth (9-7-1) is seeded 13th and plays No .4 Freedom (12-4-1) at Central Valley.
Repeating as WPIAL and PIAA Class AAA champions won’t be easy for Peters Township (11-4-2), which finished third in Section 5.
The Indians are the 11th seed, but surprisingly they will host sixth-seeded Allderdice (11-1-3), the Section 4 champion. All first-round matches in Class AAA are Monday at 8 p.m.
“That’s right where we belong and I think we’re very fortunate to have a home game,” Peters Township head coach Bob Dyer said. “This is one of the years where there are a lot of good teams, but I don’t think anybody has really separated themselves.
“You’re going to have to play four good games to win it unless you’re (top-seeded Seneca Valley) and you have to only play three.”
Canon-McMillan (13-3), which won its first section title since 1999, received the fourth seed and hosts Bethel Park (8-7). A top-10 seed is new to the Big Macs, who were No. 13 when they won the WPIAL title in 2012.
“We’ll play anybody. That’s kind of the mantra we’ve adopted over the years with these guys,” C-M head coach Larry Fingers said. “We’ve never been a single-digit seed and have no need to be one.”
In Class AA, South Fayette (14-2), the Section 5 champion, is the fourth seed and hosts Shady Side Academy (8-4-1) Monday at 8 p.m. No. 6 Ringgold (13-4) will host No. 13 Belle Vernon (10-5) Monday at 8 p.m., and McGuffey (11-6) has a short trip to South Fayette Monday for a 6 p.m. start against No. 5 Beaver (16-2).
Trinity (10-5-2) has a play-in game against Quaker Valley (7-6-3) Saturday at Thomas Jefferson beginning at 4 p.m. The winner plays at No. 2 Mars (15-2-1) Monday. Last fall, Quaker Valley won a play-in match and went on to reach the PIAA playoffs.
“We’ve been a little unlucky during the regular season so I’m hoping a couple shots go our way,” Trinity head coach Ryan Julian said.
In Class A, all matches are Monday at 6 p.m. Seventh-seeded Bentworth (12-3-2) plays No. 10 Winchester Thurston (9-6-1) at Upper St. Clair; No. 12 Charleroi (2-3) drew No. 4 Avonworth (12-3-3) at Canon-McMillan and No. 15 Monessen (8-9-1) will play second-seeded Greensburg Central Catholic (13-2) at Norwin.