Fall is a busy time of the year for Pine-Richland\u2019s John Wiegand.<\/p>\n
As the coach for both the boys and girls soccer teams, his days are usually spent in the never-ending loop of practice and games.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s all worth it when his teams can make the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Both Pine-Richland squads advanced to the quarterfinal rounds of their respective playoff brackets (the girls helped along with a first-round bye).<\/p>\n
Each was forced to exit in tough losses in penalty kicks, but as so often with a campaign, it\u2019s more about the journey than the ending.<\/p>\n
Finding form<\/p>\n
The Pine-Richland boys soccer team\u2019s record wasn\u2019t necessarily impressive on the surface, but strides were made throughout the season as the team reached many of the goals it set at the outset.<\/p>\n
First, as is the case with every team in the WPIAL, the Rams wanted to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Coming to the end of the season, all the Rams (6-11-2, 2-7-1) needed to do was secure the fourth and final playoff spot in the Section 3-4A standings.<\/p>\n
After a tough 3-1 loss against Seneca Valley on Oct. 2, the team battled North Hills to a 1-1 tie in double overtime and came away with a 5-1 win over Butler to close out section play and lock in their ticket to the playoffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cTalking about it is one thing,\u201d Wiegand said. \u201cBut to go out and do it is another. That\u2019s when I truly felt like we were starting to find more confidence and form to our play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finding form, and a tactical, structured approach to every match, was the other goal the team set, as they do every year.<\/p>\n
The Rams found that form near the end of the season, but it seemed elusive as the season kicked off.<\/p>\n
The team opened the season with a loss to North Catholic and then tied Archbishop Ryan before embarking on a three-game winning streak.<\/p>\n
Even though they forged a record of 3-1-1, Wiegand admitted that the Rams just never \u201cfelt comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were still trying to figure ourselves out, and I think the team would agree with that,\u201d Wiegand added. \u201cWe really never felt like we were in control until after the North Allegheny game on Sept. 30.\u201d<\/p>\n
The North Allegheny game, which the Rams lost 2-1 in overtime, was in the midst of the team\u2019s second four-game losing streak to close out September. The only wins they had in the month were a 1-0 victory over Mars on Sept. 2 and a 3-0 win over North Hills on Sept. 16.<\/p>\n
Wiegand applauded his players for having strong mental fortitude to get them through those tough stretches. He believes it\u2019s what helped them fight for that last playoff spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat early season sort of prepped us and led us in the right direction,\u201d Wiegand said. \u201cI\u2019m proud of the boys for rallying behind each other and putting forth their best effort at all times to get us to where we ended up.\u201d<\/p>\n
As most coaches will say, all a team needs is to get into the playoffs and anything can happen.<\/p>\n
The Rams, a No. 10 seed, upset No. 7 Mt. Lebanon in the first round, dispatching the Blue Devils in penalty kicks 4-2.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou might be able to train penalty kicks, practice them, make the kids as comfortable as possible taking them, but in that kind of environment with fans screaming and the pressure all on your shoulders and you have to make the kick,\u201d Wiegand said, \u201cnothing prepares you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The game sat at a 1-1 tie as both teams traded opportunities in two overtimes.<\/p>\n
Wiegand said maybe seeing Mt. Lebanon in an exhibition match a week before playoffs may have been beneficial.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan\u2019t say if it helped us or not,\u201d he said. \u201cBoth sides almost treated the game like a section opponent. I felt confident that we had the stronger legs in overtime.\u201d<\/p>\n
That win set the Rams up to play No. 2 seed and Section 3-4A champion Fox Chapel.<\/p>\n
In their previous two meetings, the Foxes came away with wins but faced two different Pine-Richland teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe played them straight up the first time,\u201d Wiegand said. \u201cIt didn\u2019t go in our favor in a 5-0 loss. We knew we had to make adjustments to make it work, and we played a more defensive-minded game and only lost 1-0 the second time.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the playoff game, the Rams had their opportunities but fell short once again in a 1-0 loss.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved how our boys executed in a short time frame coming off that long game against Mt. Lebo,\u201d Wiegand said. \u201cIt was one of those disheartening feelings where you want to see them rewarded for their efforts, but that\u2019s ultimately how the game goes and it didn\u2019t fall in our favor that day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the season ending in a loss, the Rams know they accomplished what they set out to do from the start of the season. It wasn\u2019t easy, but going through a lesson-learning season of growth could pay dividends moving forward.<\/p>\n
Featured Local Businesses<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it from start to finish,\u201d Wiegand said. \u201cYou usually have a general idea of what your team looks like and how they\u2019ll be for the season, but the boys fought hard in the grind that is our section, battled every team and got the results they needed to get.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pressure cooker<\/p>\n
The Pine-Richland girls soccer team knew its identity from the jump.<\/p>\n
Just as it was last season, the team\u2019s main attribute was its defensive personnel and the willingness to work as a group.<\/p>\n
In their 17 games, the Rams produced 12 shutouts and made the lives of their opponents very challenging throughout.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey put a lot of pressure on the ball,\u201d Wiegand said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t do that for all opponents; others we gave them more time on the ball and then forced them into specific areas of the field to gauge their reactions. It worked in our favor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starting goalkeeper Shea Best\u2019s numbers \u2014 35 total saves and four goals allowed in the regular season \u2014 are impressive, but with just 35 shot attempts, there also had to be an accompanying piece of great defensive play.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were able to score in situations where we just couldn\u2019t buy a goal last year,\u201d Wiegand said. \u201cThat allowed us to apply pressure on the attack, which took some pressure off our defense. We knew what we were going to get from our defensive group night in and night out. Having a lead allowed the girls to play with more confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pine-Richland outscored its opponents 42-6 this season, giving up just two goals in section play. Overall, the Rams scored an average of 2.3 goals a game and allowed just 0.3 goals per match.<\/p>\n
The team opened with a six-game winning streak, beating nonsection opponents Norwin, Canon-McMillan, Moon, Quaker Valley and West Allegheny. The first time the team didn\u2019t win came in a 0-0 tie in double overtime against North Allegheny.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe certainly did not perform at our best in every one of those contests,\u201d Wiegand said. \u201cBut we got results, and that\u2019s attributed to the talent we possess.\u201d<\/p>\n
Facing a stacked nonsection schedule to open also was something Wiegand knew from past experience that would help his team in the long run.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned from playoff seeding in prior years that those cross-section games make a real impact,\u201d Wiegand explained. \u201cI knew getting those wins against teams like Norwin and Canon-Mac would set us up as far as getting into the playoffs and having a solid seed if we had a good showing in section play.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Rams (14-3-1, 5-2-1) certainly put together a dominant run through Section 3-4A. Their only losses came against a tough Seneca Valley team that wound up the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Seneca Valley took both regular season matchups by 1-0 decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re just a battled-tested team that year in and year out gets the results,\u201d Wiegand said. \u201cThey have a talented squad of players and they play as connected.\u201d<\/p>\n
In between those Seneca Valley losses, the Rams put together a five-game winning streak, mostly against section opponents, and finished the season on a three-game winning streak.<\/p>\n
They entered the playoffs as the four seed, had a first-round bye and took on rival North Allegheny in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
After tying the Tigers in their first matchup at the beginning of the year, the Rams defeated them in the second matchup 1-0 and coming off three straight wins, they had the confidence and rest from the bye.<\/p>\n
The teams played to a 1-1 tie after two overtimes and once again a Pine-Richland soccer team was at the mercy of the coin flip that is penalty kicks.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, the season will be remembered for the loss in PKs to NA,\u201d Wiegand said. \u201cBut to me, it didn\u2019t define the entire season. The girls were a tough group and getting an opportunity to coach them, I think they set the standard for how we would like to move forward as a program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Featured Local Businesses<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fall is a busy time of the year for Pine-Richland\u2019s John Wiegand. As the coach for both the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-254865","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-soccer","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}