CLASS 3A
- The Score: #3 Shady Side Academy 12, #5 Pine-Richland 6
- The Story: After suffering playoff exits the past three seasons, Shady Side Academy returned to the top to secure their second WPIAL Class 3A crown and first since 2022.
RECAP
Shady Side Academy stunned Pine-Richland with a blistering 5–0 run in the first 15 minutes of play. The early surge was spearheaded by senior attack John Poggi, who scored twice in the opening frame and finished the night with three goals and three assists. Shady Side Academy completely dominated possession, winning the ground ball battle and controlling the faceoff behind Morgan Bender, Landon Tierney, and Jack Dwyer. Pine-Richland struggled to mount a comeback, hindered heavily by three penalties across the second and third quarters that resulted in three man-up goals for the Bulldogs. Jay Mohn added a hat trick in the fourth quarter to cap off the 12–6 coronation.
- Shady Side Academy: Survived a 6–5 overtime thriller against Upper St. Clair in the quarterfinals, followed by a tight 7–5 semifinal victory to knock off #2 Fox Chapel.
- Pine-Richland: Upset #1 seed Mt. Lebanon 11–10 in the semifinals.
Class 3A State (PIAA) Qualifiers
- Shady Side Academy
- Pine-Richland
- Mt. Lebanon
CLASS 2A
The Championship Matchup
- The Score: #3 Mars 9, #4 South Fayette 6
- The Story: Mars extended its absolute stranglehold on WPIAL Class 2A, securing their sixth consecutive WPIAL title. Incredibly, this was the fourth year in a row that South Fayette fell victim to Mars in the championship game.
RECAP
Despite neither team being expected to make the final after finishing as runners-up in their respective sections, both lower seeds fought their way to Upper St. Clair. The final was a back-and-forth thriller early on, tied 3–3 at the end of the first quarter. Mars’ Connor Long managed the only goal of the second quarter to give the Fightin' Planets a 4–3 lead at halftime.
Mars opened up a 6–3 lead in the third, but South Fayette—led by the WPIAL's all-time points scorer, Drew Welhorsky—battled back to cut the deficit to just 7–6 in the fourth quarter. Ultimately, Mars midfielder Grant Weaver completed a hat trick, and Reed Fuller iced the game to seal the 9–6 victory.
- Mars: Upended undefeated #2 Hampton 15–9 in a high-scoring semifinal match.
- South Fayette: Avenged a regular-season loss by edging past top-seeded Peters Township 8–7 in the semifinals.
Class 2A State (PIAA) Qualifiers
- Mars
- South Fayette
- Hampton