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Thursday, March 21, 2024 | 5:53 PM
christopher horner relive
Aliquippa head coach Mike Warfield and coach Deshaun Patrick take a cold bath after defeating McKeesport in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game Friday, Nov. 24, 2023, at Acresure Stadium.
The four WPIAL soccer finals to be played at Acresure Stadium will likely be rescheduled this fall.
Class 5A can participate, but 4A cannot.
The latest PIAA bracket announced Thursday has the WPIAL champions of Classes 5A, 3A, 2A and A participating in the state playoffs in the semifinal round. As such, these four WPIAL finals will likely be played together at North Shore Stadium on Nov. 22 or 23.
The new PIAA slots are for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
The WPIAL finals will likely be held at a different location on Nov. 15 or 16, as the Class 6A and Class 4A WPIAL champions advance to the state playoffs from the quarterfinals a week earlier.
The PIAA revamps the state playoff brackets every two years, along with realigning teams in classifications.
State divisions are based on the number of teams in each PIAA district. For example, his number of WPIAL teams in Class 4A decreased from 22 to 17, while his number of teams in 5A increased from 18 to 20.
Districts with more teams will have the benefit of entering the state bracket later.
According to the new PIAA brackets:
• The WPIAL Class A champion will play the District 9 or District 10 champion in the PIAA semifinals.
• The WPIAL Class 2A champion will face the District 6, 10 and 9 or City League champions in the semifinals.
• The WPIAL Class 3A champion will face the District 5, 6, 9, 10 or City League champion in the semifinals.
• The WPIAL Class 4A champion will face the District 9, District 10 or City League champion in the quarterfinals. The winner will face the District 3 champion in the semifinals.
• The WPIAL Class 5A champions will play the District 3 champions in the semifinals.
• WPIAL Class 6A champions will face District 2, 4, 6 or 10 champions in the quarterfinals. The winner will face the District 3 champion in the semifinals.
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the tribe in 2009 after working as a reporter for the Beaver County Times for seven years. Contact him at charlan@triblive.com.
