Pondering the pairings
Brownsville seeded third after winning first girls soccer section title
Brownsville’s girls soccer team was in uncharted territory as it awaited the WPIAL playoff pairings on Wednesday, having never entered the postseason as a section champion.
The Lady Falcons, who tied Bentworth for first place in Section 2-A, found out they would be the third seed when the Class A brackets were released.
That set up Brownsville for a first-round game against No. 14 Springdale at Penn-Trafford with a 6 p.m. start on Monday.
Brownsville was highest seeded of the seven local teams that qualified for the postseason.
Albert Gallatin also recorded a program first by earning a spot in the dance. Also qualifying for the girls soccer playoffs were Belle Vernon, Waynesburg Central, Mount Pleasant, Southmoreland and Beth-Center.
The Lady Falcons, who went 15-1 overall and 7-1 in the section in their best regular season ever, will be going up against the Lady Dynamos for the second time this season. Brownsville defeated Sprindale 2-0 in a non-section game on Sept. 30. The Lady Dynamos were 4-8-1 overall and finished tied for third place at 3-5 in Section 4, but Rohland feels their record is deceiving.
“I was surprised we got the three,” Rohland said. “I was really expecting to be behind Bentworth and probably a five seed.
“After seeing the rest of the bracket I kind of wish we would’ve gotten a four or a five seed, because Springdale is a very good team and I feel that they were seriously overlooked in their seeding. There were several teams above Springdale I probably would’ve rather played.
“Either way, we’ve got to get the job done.”
Rohland wasn’t enamored with the site, which is about 20 minutes and approximately 15 miles closer to Springdale than Brownsville.
The Lady Falcons, who play their home games on grass at Redstone Field, had their first-round game switched to the artificial surface at Penn-Trafford.
“I heard the options were Peters Township or Penn-Trafford,” Rohland said. “Obviously, Peters would’ve been much closer for us. But we’re playing at Penn-Trafford, which is closer to Springdale.”
Bentworth (14-2) was seeded fifth and plays No. 12 Aquinas Academy at Peters Township at 8 p.m. Monday.
Also in Class A, Beth-Center (3-11-2) the fourth-place team in Section 2-A, drew the No. 16 seed and will also play at Peters Township at 6 p.m. on Monday against top-seeded Sewickley Academy (15-0).
In Class 3A, Albert Gallatin (9-8), which finished fourth in Section 3-3A, also was seeded 16th and will play its first playoff game at No. 1 Penn-Trafford (12-1-3), 8 p.m. Monday.
Belle Vernon (11-2-4), which was second in Section 3-3A, was seeded 11th and plays at No. 6 Plum (9-4-3), 7 p.m. Monday.
Waynesburg (9-4-4), which finished third in Section 1-2A, was seeded 12th in Class 2A and travels to No. 5 Central Valley (10-4-3) for a 1 p.m. match on Saturday.
Also in Class 2A, Mount Pleasant (10-5-3) and Southmoreland (8-8), who finished second and fourth, respectively, in Section 4-2A, both also play 1 p.m. matches on Saturday. The Lady Vikings were seeded 10th and play at No. 7 Deer Lakes (12-5-1) and the Lady Scotties, another area team seeded 16th, are at No. 1 South Park (17-0).