The West Hills will be well-represented in the WPIAL boys and girls soccer tournaments, which get under way later this week in some of the classifications.
The Moon Area boys will look to defend their Class 3A championship, and they’ll be joined in that 3A tournament by Montour.
In the Class 2A boys tournament, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart will look to improve on its runner-up finish from a year ago.
In girls play, both Moon and Montour are among 16 schools competing in the Class 3A tournament, and in Class 1A, OLSH and Carlynton will look to make some noise.
Moon enters the boys 3A tournament as the No. 4 seed and the Tigers will open play at home against No. 13 seed Laurel Highlands. That game is set for 3 p.m. Saturday at Tiger Stadium.
In the same bracket, No. 14 seed Montour will travel to take on No. 3 Franklin Regional at 1 p.m. Saturday at Franklin Regional.
A year ago, Moon’s senior-heavy team defeated Franklin Regional, 3-1, in the 3A title game at Highmark Stadium. It was Moon’s second WPIAL championship in three years.
The Tigers, who lost 1-0 to Radnor in last year’s PIAA title game, will bring a 12-5-1 regular-season record into Saturday’s game after posting a 5-0 victory over West Mifflin Wednesday.
Eric Haupt and Laercio de Sousa each scored two goals while Olek Sushko added one. Hayden Dunn assisted on two goals while Vinnie Munizza and Cullen Felton each had one assist.
Will Guarino and Rocco Reilsono combined for the shutout in goal for Moon, which won the section title with a 10-1-1 record.
Moon coach Tyler Blake said he likes where his team is heading into the tournament.
“We’re playing our best soccer of the season,” he said. “We have all of our players healthy for the first time.
“I’m really excited for what we can do. The boys have been really resilient.”
Montour comes into the tournament with an overall record of 9-8 and the distinction of handing Moon its only loss in Section 4 play.
OLSH enters the 1A boys tournament play undefeated and seeded No. 2 behind unbeaten Bentworth, which defeated the Chargers in last year’s championship game and is gunning for its third straight title.
OLSH will open at 1 p.m. Saturday against No. 15 Greensburg Central Catholic at Moon’s Tiger Stadium. The Chargers finished the regular season 15-0-0.
Moon Area coach Bill Pfeifer’s Tigers are seeded No. 3 in the Class 3A girls tournament with a 16-1-0 overall record.
In the 3A girls tournament, No. 3 seed Moon will host No. 14 Oakland Catholic at 6:30 p.m. Monday. The Tigers, section champions for the seventh straight year, will ride into tournament play on a 12-match winning streak. They completed Section 2 play 12-0-0 and are 16-1-0 overall, with their only loss coming to Class 4A Pine-Richland, 2-1 in overtime, in early September.
Moon reached the quarterfinals of last year’s WPIAL tournament before losing.
Montour, meanwhile, is seeded No. 7 and will host No. 10 Hampton at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Thomas J. Birko Memorial Stadium.
The Spartans bring an 11-4 overall record into that match after a 4-0 nonsection loss to North Allegheny Wednesday; they went 10-2 in section play with their only losses coming to Moon.
Carlynton, the No. 9 seed in the 1A tournament, will take on eighth-seeded Eden Christian at 6 p.m. Tuesday at North Allegheny.
The Cougars finished the regular season 10-7-1 overall after a 4-0 nonsection win over Bethlehem-Center Wednesday. Riley Mauro scored three goals and assisted on the other one. Sophia O’Brien contributed a goal and two assists and Gigi Choate added an assist for the Cougars, who finished 7-5-0 in Section 3 play.
OLSH, seeded No. 10, will face No. 7 seed Aquinas Academy at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Springdale.
The Chargers went 7-6-1 overall during the regular season and 6-3-1 in section play. They enter tournament play with three wins in their last four outings.
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