The opening round of the PIAA Tournament will kick off Tuesday in soccer, field hockey and girls volleyball, with eight Pioneer Athletic Conference teams set to compete across multiple brackets and one in particular looking to secure its third consecutive state championship.
Below is a closer look at the area teams’ first-round matchups, with game sites occurring on the higher seed’s campus unless indicated otherwise:
Boys Soccer – Class 4A
Phoenixville (1-5) at Parkland (11-1), 6 p.m.
While no girls PAC soccer squads qualified for states, Phoenixville did make the cut as the lone boys’ team in the field. The Phantoms (18-4-2) won their first two district tournament games, lost to Conestoga in the quarterfinals and then won a pair of playback games over Neshaminy and Souderton to claim the fifth of six District 1 entries into the PIAA bracket. Phoenixville boasts a veteran team with 13 seniors, eight of which are starters. Key players such as Ryan Lang, Connor Northcott, Brody White, Liam Hahn, John Manyeka, Mateo Rodriguez and Patrick McNamara will be fighting to keep their careers alive roughly 60 miles north of campus in Allentown. The Phantoms will have their hands full against District 11 champion Parkland, as the Trojans enter states with a 22-2 overall record, most recently knocking off Northampton 3-2 on Oct. 31 to secure a district championship.
Field Hockey — Class 3A
Methacton (1-5) at Wyoming Valley West (2-1), 6 p.m.
Methacton, the fifth of seven District 1 teams into the 3A field, enters with an overall record of 16-5-2. The Warriors opened districts with a home win over Garnet Valley before falling in the quarterfinals at Downingtown West, a game Methacton led until the fourth quarter. Methacton then knocked off Souderton to clinch a berth in states, and the Warriors also defeated Avon Grove thereafter to nab the district’s fifth seed into states. Seniors Carmela Maro, Elena Weychert and Lizzy Mun will be playing to extend their high school careers, while others players such as Adriana Hopple, Calie Fisher, Lea DeWan, Ceci Rehak and goalie Maddie McKenney will also likely have key roles in the game’s outcome. Wyoming Valley West, which lies approximately 100 miles northwest of Methacton, won the District 2-3A tournament, securing two-goal wins over both Honesdale and Hazleton to enter states with an overall record of 12-5.
Boyertown (1-3) at Easton (11-2), 7 p.m., Cottingham Stadium
Boyertown captured third place in the District 1-3A bracket, knocking off Neshaminy and Central Bucks West before falling to Conestoga in the semifinals. The Bears defeated Downingtown West in the third-place game, taking their overall record to 17-5-2. Head coach Alicia Terrizzi’s team features a strong blend of talent across all grades, with upperclassmen Peyton Shellaway and Elise Eves playing big roles in the operation, as do younger players such as Kendal Gilbert, Emily Ulrich, Maya Brunner and Addie Galianese. Easton, the runner-up in District 11, comes in with an overall record of 18-5-1 and will host the contest a few miles from campus at Cottingham Stadium, a 40-mile trip northeast of Boyertown.
Class 2A
Upper Perkiomen (1-3) at Southern Lehigh (11-1), 6 p.m., Southern Lehigh Middle School
Upper Perkiomen nabbed the third of five PIAA berths up for grabs in District 1-2A, with the Indians shutting out Oxford and Springfield Delco in districts before falling at home 1-0 to Gwynedd Mercy Academy in the semifinals. Upper Perk went on the road to defeat Kennett 3-2 in the district’s third-place game and will enter this first-round PIAA contest with an overall record of 13-7-2. After a four-game losing streak in October, the Indians won four of five to enter this battle with District 11 champion Southern Lehigh with some confidence. Senior sisters Julia and Jade Traynor are two of Upper Perk’s top offensive options, with sophomore Ryann Sanfelice a talented presence in goal. The Spartans, at 18-4 overall, have shut out their opponents in all of their wins this season, so if the Indians can find a way to put one or two in the back of the cage, they should have a decent shot at an upset. Despite it being a road game for Upper Perk, the team will only have to travel 15 miles to the Southern Lehigh Middle School game site.
Class 1A
Pope John Paul II (1-2) at Bonner-Prendergast (12-1), 3:45 p.m.
Despite its 1-0 loss to Faith Christian in the district championship game (an improvement over a 6-0 regular season defeat at the hands of FCA), PJP still earned an automatic berth to the state tournament thanks to wins over higher-seeded teams in the first two rounds. The Golden Panthers enter this game with an 11-10 overall record, and have gotten strong performances in districts from several players, including goalie Taylor Ebert, who allowed just two goals in three games. Other players who have stepped up of late include Maddie Memmo, Sarah Mink, Reese McCoy, Cece Bleam, Anna Jane Schiele and Abby Simmers. PJP will travel roughly 30 miles southeast to Delaware County to take on District 12-1A champion Bonner-Prendie. The Friars tied in seven of their 20 games, so at the least the Panthers should expect a close game if they are able to execute and cash in on their offensive opportunities.
Volleyball — Class 4A
Spring-Ford (1-5) at Unionville (1-1), 5 p.m.
The Rams took the scenic route to states, but their impressive run to get there cannot be ignored heading into their first-round match on Tuesday. After opening the District 1-4A Tournament with wins over Penncrest and Pennridge, Spring-Ford won its first two quarterfinal sets at Upper Merion before a heartbreaking 3-2 loss sent the Rams to playbacks. There, the team had to go on the road to defeat both Downingtown East and Plymouth Whitemarsh, which they did via identical 3-1 results to grab the district’s final PIAA berth. Spring-Ford comes into this match with eight losses, but six of those eight came against Pope John Paul II and Upper Merion, making the Rams 18-2 against everyone else. Led by siblings Marley Angelucci and Lauren Angelucci, with Lila Olsen, Elle Sossong and Alanna Bricker additional key players on the court, Spring-Ford’s next challenge will be to take down District 1 champion Unionville. Unionville, at 19-1 overall, knocked off top-seeded Bishop Shanahan in the district championship on Oct. 31.
Upper Merion (1-4) at Bethlehem Liberty (11-1), 6 p.m., Catasauqua High School
Upper Merion is back in the state tournament again, only this time the Vikings did not have to take a circuitous path through playbacks to get there, as they did in 2023. The team boasts an overall record of 19-6, knocking off PAC rivals Methacton and Spring-Ford to get to the District 1-4A semifinals. Upper Merion lost both its semifinal match to Bishop Shanahan as well as its third-place contest at Garnet Valley, the latter of which was a 3-2 thriller. The Vikings have two of the area’s most complementary players in senior co-captains Sophia Schweikert and Raven Albrecht, who will be tasked with figuring out a plan of attack against District 11 champion Bethlehem Liberty, who comes into the contest at 18-3 overall.
Class 3A
Carver Engineering & Science (12-2) at Pope John Paul II (1-1), 7 p.m.
After successfully defending their league and district crowns for a second straight season, Pope John Paul II will look to complete the trifecta as the program looks for its third straight PIAA title, which would tie a bow on the Golden Panthers’ third consecutive undefeated season. PJP has won 74 straight matches dating back to the 2021 season, and all but four of the team’s 21 wins in 2024 came via straight-set sweeps. The Golden Panthers swept Upper Perk, WC Rustin and Strath Haven in the District 1-3A Tournament, and four more wins is all that stands between PJP and history. Another state title would make them the first-ever Pioneer Athletic Conference program in volleyball or any other sport to complete that feat. Only three PAC squads have ever done it twice: PJP volleyball in 2022-23, Pottstown boys track & field in 1993-94 and Perkiomen Valley field hockey in 1986-87.
Cross Country
While the above capsules represented previews of state contests still to come, one team that just completed a successful PIAA showing over the weekend was the Owen J. Roberts girls’ cross country squad. On Saturday in Hershey, the Wildcats secured second place as a team in the PIAA 3A race, scoring 119 points and finishing just behind Haverford, who captured the state title with 110 points. OJR and Haverford flip-flopped their results from districts, in which the Wildcats placed first and the Fords finished second. At Hershey, OJR senior Jane Kratz finished eighth overall in a field of over 200, completing the race in 18:52. Senior Khya D’Angelo placed 40th overall (19:52), while the other Wildcats to finish inside the top-50 were sophomore Ellie Thompson (45th, 19:59) and junior Amelie Blatz (48th, 20:03). Other Wildcats who raced were sophomore Halle Kish (20:42), junior Nora Horton (21:07) and freshman Hannah Oldhorn (21:40). Hatboro-Horsham senior Lillian Dicola was the individual state champion, winning the race with a time of 18:31.
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