Both matches will be played at Northeastern High School in Manchester.

Pittsburgh Soccer Now's John Krysinsky caught up with captains from both squads on Thursday for a special edition of Kids on the Pitch Podcast.

Joining John from South Fayette included Caitlyn Thompson, Mia Deramo and Quinn Miller; and from Burrell, captains included Mikayla Coury, McKenna Miller, Parker Moore

Instead of the field from Western PA including all WPIAL (PIAA's District 7) schools, there's Pittsburgh City School program, designated in PIAA's District 8, Allderdice boys, have crashed the Class 3A party.

On Saturday night, Allderdice faced off against a WPIAL champion, West Allegheny.

For the second straight year, the Dragons took the WPIAL's top team to extra time in the PIAA Quarterfinal Round, but this time around, the City League school advanced, beating West Allegheny in a match that was decided in a penalty kick shootout right around the same time the Pittsburgh Riverhounds were doing the same thing.

On the newest episode of Kids on the Pitch Podcast, PSN's John Krysinsky is joined by Allderdice Head Coach, David Thyberg to talk about the City League program, which has built a strong tradition of success, but has never come this far in the State tournament.

John will also set the stage for PIAA Championship Week and talk about some upcoming Pittsburgh Soccer Now high school soccer coverage and features.

Pittsburgh Soccer Now's John Krysinsky is joined by Westmoreland Sports Network soccer analyst Mike Powers to take a look a quick look back at some of the highlights of the first two rounds of the WPIAL playoffs, including both Quarterfinal Round matches featuring Norwin, which Mike was on the call when Plum eliminted Norwin in Boys Class 4A tournament in a penalty kick shootout and Norwin girls edged Mt. Lebanon in Girls Class 4A tournament.   

John and Mike discuss those matches and much, much more! 

In the newest episodes of the Kids on the Pitch Podcast, Pittsburgh Soccer Now's John Krysinsky is joined by Fox Chapel's Carlo Prati (Girls 3A) to get reaction and insights on the seedings, the postseason, match-ups, who may be the sleepers in their respective classifications and much more!

In the coming days, look for more interviews with more coaches as they look forward to the District Tournament, which will kickoff on Saturday and culminate with the District Finals at Highmark Stadium, October 30-November 1.

In the newest episode of the Kids on the Pitch Podcast, Pittsburgh Soccer Now's John Krysinsky is joined by Pine-Richland's Jordan Wiegand his reaction and insights on the seedings, the postseason, match-ups, who may be the sleepers in their respective classifications and much more! 

If you recall, in her first appearance Mascaro shared her passion as a coach by 'leading with love' in crusade to promote Mental Health Awareness with young student athletes.

Now, Libby joins the Podcast to address some of the questions we recently posed to High School boys and girls coaches, especially what some of the biggest challenges and rewards of coaching young student athletes in their most formative years.

Mascaro has coached for Beadling SC and was a part of the Mt. Lebanon ‘Dream Team’ of the 1990s soccer dynasty and played collegiately at Penn State University.

Libby has two daughters who attend and play soccer at Upper St. Clair HS (Mary and Abby) each who are committed to attend Kent St and Delaware, respectively.

• Addressing ongoing challenges for youth coaches, parents, soccer organizations and schools in mentoring, guiding and supporting young athletes and students.
• Resources to provide help and assistance
  • NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness (website: https://www.nami.org/Home)
  • AFSP: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (website: https://afsp.org/) 

More about Libby Mascaro

For the last 10 years Libby has worked closely with two organizations, as she co-founded the Upper St. Clair Wellness Committee and the No Place for Hate initiative, a national program supporting schools in their commitment to celebrating diversity, promoting respect for differences, and challenging bias and bullying at all levels.  USC’s Wellness Committee’s mission is to make sure the students (and staff) in USC are healthy, both physically and mentally. I have held several fundraisers over these years raising almost $300,000 for local mental health resources. Plus she advocates strongly for mental health awareness through affiliations with organizations including the National Alliance on Mental Illness and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Through Libby’s coaching experiences, currently with Beadling SC, she empowers young female athletes to be the best at their game and their mind.

LIbby was recently awarded the Citizen of the Year award by Judge Ron Arnoni for work in the USC Community – specifically for mental health. She has spoken many times at hearings, Congressional meetings, Notary meetings, NAMI conferences, USC community events, the PTA and PTOs in USC, school assemblies and many other places.

Pittsburgh Soccer Now’s John Krysinsky is joined by Plum High School boys soccer coach, Rafal Kolankowski, to ask the same five questions he presented to 15 WPIAL boys coaches for PSN's new feature, Coaches Corner.

That means the Kids on the Pitch Podcast returns for regular, ongoing episodes through the course of the Fall season.

To get started, Pittsburgh Soccer Now's John Krysinsky sits down with Pine-Richland Boys and Girls Head Coach Jordan Wiegand, who is excited to talk about a loaded field of boys' schools -- both in the WPIAL and from outside the area -- who will take part in the 12-team JRK Memorial Classic.

John and Jordan also talk about numerous topics including: 

• Pine-Richland boys and girls teams as they venture once again into another gauntlet of competition in WPIAL Class 4A
• Rigorous High School Schedule -- and what can be done to make it better 
• Importance of playing quality non-conference matches 

And, much more!  

What you may not know, is that Gerlach is also Director of Coaching and coaches a number of teams for Northern Steel, which has become an excellent club-based North of Pittsburgh.  In addition, Northern Steel began a women's U23 squad under Gerlach’s leadership.  Since that time, in the Ohio Valley Premier League, Northern Steel has become a dynasty, winning back-to-back OVPL titles in 2024 and 2025. 

In this interview, Gerlach talks about the journey of building a club culture at Northern Steel, the challenges of the ever-changing landscape of youth soccer, the tremendous growth of girls/women's soccer, progression and path of US Club Soccer National Championship winning squad (2011 Blue) and he also takes a few moments at the end of the interview to talk about Mars girls program and challenges of playing in one of the most competitive Classifications in all of high school soccer in Western PA (Girls 3A).   

After the brackets were released on Wednesday, Pittsburgh Soccer Now's John Krysinsky was joined on the Kids on the Pitch Podcast by some coaches to get their reaction to the seedings and talk about their chances and how the competition stacks up in the WPIAL Girls Playoffs.

Among the coaches who joined John and Matt include Pine-Richland's Jordan Wiegand, who will be coaching both the Boys and Girls programs in this year's playoffs, Beaver Area's Nick Crivelli and OLSH's Head Coach Paige Petroval.

After the brackets were released on Wednesday, Pittsburgh Soccer Now's John Krysinsky was joined on the Kids on the Pitch Podcast by coaches to get their reaction to the seedings and talk about their chances and how the competition stacks up in the WPIAL Boys Playoffs.

Class 4A top seed Plum's Head Coach Raf Kolankowski and Class 3A top seed Moon's Head Coach Tyler Blake joined John to discuss their team's each earning tops seeds in their respective tournaments.  

Pittsburgh Soccer Now's John Krysinsky and Matt Popchock discuss some of what they saw this weekend at the JRK Memorial Classic, then were joined by Plum High School boys soccer coach, Rafal Kolankowski, to talk about the Mustangs' 1-0-2 start to the season against tough Class 4A competition.  

This year, at the JRK Memorial Classic hosted by Pine-Richland boys soccer program, 10 high school boys soccer teams will get their 2024 seasons going against some tough competition.  

John and Jordan discuss the return of the Classic and many topics including Pine-Richland's squad, the importance of playing tough competition right at the start of the season, WPIAL Class 4A's outlook, PIAA/WPIAL changes in rules and lack of changes (overtime will remain in the regular season), and much, much more.  

Haas shares his thoughts on the playoff experience thus far, his team's preparations for the District Championship game, but also opens up about being born deaf, and being one of the first-ever bilateral Cochlear Implant recipients -- and his experiences growing up and being a student-athlete in mainstream school and sports settings.   

Shortly after the brackets were revealed, PSN's John Krysinsky and Matt Popchock went on the Kids on the Pitch Podcast -- and brought a few coaches on to the show for their reaction, as they connected longtime PSN colleague, and current Ringgold girls coach Ed Rosensteel and OLSH's Paige Petroval.  

Tanner discusses his soccer journey, which began at age four with Beadling Soccer Club, his development, experience playing with the Red Bulls Academy and in MLS Next Pro and with the US YNT U-15 squad in August.

On this special episode of Kids on the Pitch, PSN's John Krysinsky and Matt Popchock are joined by Alex Brown and North Catholic boys soccer players Jake Stofko and Francisco Smith.

Following their conversation with Alex, Jake and Francisco, John and Matt also discuss the validity and value (or lack thereof) for high school soccer rankings.

In the first episode of 2023, Pittsburgh Soccer Now's John Krysinsky brings on Kris Schemm, who is the founder of the Glory on the Grass 5v5 and 3v3 soccer tournaments, which are being played at various locations in and around Western Pennsylvania during the summer.  Learn more about the unique, 5v5 and 3v3 competition, how it came to be and where there are still opportunities to play in our region in the coming weeks.

In addition, John interviews Ben Fiore, who has taken on a new coaching position at his alma mater, Kiski Area, following his successful stint at Ambridge, where he helped lead the Bridgers to a WPIAL 3A runner-up finish in 2022, and a semifinal appearance in 2021.  In an enlightening interview, Ben discusses the off season process for coaches and players, preparing for training camp, stepping into a new program, building a successful culture and much more.

• Pine-Richland boys' Jordan Wiegand
• Ambridge boys' Ben Fiore
• Mount Pleasant girls' Rich Garland

Then, John is joined by Matt Popchock to talk more about the three matches he'll be covering (Boys Class 2A, Boys Class 1A and Boys Class 3A), before Jordan Smith joins them both (after getting back from doing stats at the Pitt men's game) as they held a rapid-fire takeaways and predictions session that included: 

• What was the toughest section across the WPIAL in Boys or Girls soccer this year?
• Which low seed has best chance to win? 
• What game has best chancce to go to a penalty kick shootout? 
• What game will be decided by a golden goal?  
• How many goals scored and predictions for each game. 

Shortly after, PSN's John Krysinsky and Brandon Rossi shared their reaction and spoke with a pair of coaches, Our Lady of Sacred Heart's Paige Petroval and Avonworth's J.C. Mahon, to get their thoughts on the seedings and their teams' prospects in the upcoming playoffs.

John Krysinsky and Brandon Rossi shared their reaction and spoke with a pair of boys coaches for Part I of a two-part special podcast. Joining John and Brandon were Pine-Richland's Jordan Wiegand and Greensburg Central Catholic's Rob Fabean, to get their thoughts on the seedings and their teams' prospects in the upcoming playoffs.

• Her thoughts on Mt. Lebanon's Mia Bhuta, who is playing with US Youth National Women's Soccer team at the U17 Women's World Cup
• Stigma associated with mental illness and disorders
• Female athlete mental health (four young female athlete suicides this year)
• Her personal story and other personal stories
• Addressing ongoing challenges for youth coaches, parents, soccer organizations and schools in mentoring, guiding and supporting young athletes and students.
• Resources to provide help and assistance
  • NAMI and AFSP

National Alliance on Mental Illness (website: https://www.nami.org/Home) 

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (website: https://afsp.org/) 

Among the topics discussed on the Kids on the Pitch podcast included: 

• Plum's positive start to the 2022 against tough competition
• Measuring up a very deep group of strong teams contending in Class 3A this season
• A look back at how WPIAL Soccer has evolved over the years, since Kolankowski was a player in the late 1980s and early 1990s, seeing multiple generations of players circling through, many at the same high schools
• Experience staying home, and playing at Point Park, when the soccer program was still in its early years when both John and Raf played and later coached in the early-to-mid 1990s
• Approach to coaching young players and keeping their priorities in check
• And much more

PSN's Jordan Smith (who is also an assistant boys varsity and head JV boys coach at South Fayette) joins John Krysinsky to discuss the upcoming high school soccer season, the impact of this year's realignment, as they run through all classifications and sections ahead of the official start date of the season on Friday, August 26, 2022.

Jordan Weigand, who is entering his fourth season as the Head Coach of Pine-Richland boys, discusses Boys 4A realignment to just two 'mega-sections' and having just 16 teams,and also provides a preview of the six-team preseason tournament hosted by Pine-Richland this coming weekend (August 27 & 28).

Finally, we reconnect with Ed Rosentsteel, longtime PSN contributor who is back coaching as an assistant varsity coach for Ringgold girls soccer. Ed provides his outlook on WPIAL girls soccer season, Ringgold's chances in loaded 3A classification, plus Ed shares more about the Moe Rosensteel preseason tournament to be played on Saturday, September 3.