Soccer, field hockey playoffs in PAC-10 feature familiar faces – Reading Eagle

There will be 12 familiar teams in the Pioneer Athletic Conference boys soccer, girls soccer and field hockey Final Four playoffs this week.

All of the teams participated last year and should be ready to go again after a wild week of battling for playoff spots and top seeds.

The soccer matches will take place at Owen J. Roberts, with the semifinals Tuesday and a championship doubleheader Thursday.

Field hockey will be Tuesday and Thursday at Upper Perkiomen.

The boys soccer semifinals will be at 5:30 p.m. Defending champion and Liberty Division top seed Owen J. Roberts (11-2 in the league) will meet Frontier Division runner-up Phoenixville (7-6) at Wildcat Field North. Frontier champion Pottsgrove (8-5) will play Liberty runner-up Boyertown (10-2-1) at Wildcat Stadium.

The Bears remained in the race for the top spot and clinched a playoff berth with a 1-1 tie at Spring-Ford Tuesday. Then OJR defeated Spring-Ford 2-1 Thursday night on an unassisted goal in the second half by Graham Pugh to wrap up the division title.

Last year’s semifinal matchups were the same, with Boyertown defeating Pottsgrove 3-2 and OJR downing Phoenixville 3-0. The Wildcats beat the Bears 2-1 in the final.

The girls semifinals are scheduled to start at 7:35 p.m. Pending the final analysis of tiebreaker scenarios, Liberty winner Spring-Ford (11-0-2) will face Frontier runner-up Pope John Paul II (9-4) at North, and Frontier champion Phoenixville (9-4) will meet Liberty runner-up Boyertown (11-1-1) at the Stadium.

Spring-Ford had clinched a playoff spot coming into the week and the Bears wrapped up a berth with a win Monday, but the division lead was still up for grabs when the teams met Tuesday. The Rams stayed just ahead of the Bears with a 1-1 tie, then wrapped up the division title with a 2-1 win over Owen J. Roberts Thursday.

Phoenixville and PJP were already in the playoffs coming into the week and the Phantoms tied the Golden Panthers for first place with a 3-1 win Tuesday.

Last year, Pope John Paul surprised Boyertown 2-1 in the semifinals and Spring-Ford defeated Phoenixville 3-2. The Rams captured their second straight title with a 3-0 win in the final.

In field hockey, Liberty winner Owen J. Roberts (11-2) will take on Frontier runner-up Upper Perkiomen (7-6) at Indian Stadium, and Frontier champion Phoenixville (8-5) will face defending champion and Liberty runner-up Perkiomen Valley (11-2) at Tribe Stadium. Both games will begin at 6 p.m.

Phoenixville led Upper Perk and PJP by a game coming into the week and both teams defeated the Golden Panthers to clinch playoff spots.

In the Liberty Division, Perk Valley downed Methacton 1-0 Thursday in a winner-take-all encounter and OJR downed Spring-Ford 2-1 to remain tied for first. The Wildcats earned the division title by virtue of having won both contests against the Vikings.

Last year, Perk Valley defeated Upper Perk 3-0 and Owen J. Roberts edged Phoenixville 2-1 in the semifinals, and PV finished undefeated in the league for the first time since 2007 with a 2-0 win in the championship match.

Boyertown girls soccer is in the Final Four for the 10th straight year, which is every season since the format began in 2006.

The Bears had made it to the final six years in a row before the loss to PJP last season and want to return to the championship match.

“This group’s been battle-tested,” Bears coach Bill Goddard said after Tuesday’s tie at Spring-Ford. “They’ve been in the wars. Sarafina (Valenti) and Maria (Garafolo) they’ve been around for a long time. They want to go out with a bang.”

Four PAC-10 golfers are still alive in postseason play and will compete in the East Regional Monday at Golden Oaks Golf Club.

Methacton’s Kyle Vance won the District 1 tournament, and he’ll be joined by Spring-Ford’s Dan Rieger and Ben Pochet.

Owen J. Roberts’ Maddie Sager will play in the girls tournament after placing second in the district.

Elsewhere, the PAC-10 cross country championship meet will be run Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at Heebner Park in Worcester.

In girls tennis, OJR’s Meredith Lee and Methacton’s Mihaele Codreanu will play for the District 1-AAA singles title Oct. 28. Both already have qualified for the PIAA Tournament in Hershey, which begins Nov. 6.

Contact Dennis Weller: 610-371-5061 or dweller@readingeagle.com.