Kids on the Pitch (Scholastic and Youth Soccer in Western PA)

In the latest edition of Kids on the Pitch Podcast, Pittsburgh Soccer Now's John Krysinsky provides a quick rundown of the WPIAL Soccer Finals, which kickoff on Thursday night, at Highmark Stadium, plus brings on Quaker Valley's senior forward, Bennett Haas, who has scored six goals in the past two matches to help lead the Quakers to the WPIAL Boys Class 2A Finals.  

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.   

The WPIAL Soccer Playoff Brackets were announced on Wednesday.

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.  

In the latest edition of the Kids on the Pitch Podcast, PSN's John Krysinsky catches up with Tanner Rosborough, who currently trains and competes with the Red Bulls Academy/NYRBII on an MLSNext Pro contract, has also been signed to join the senior team, NY Red Bulls on a MLS Homegrown contract in 2025.

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.

When North Catholic boys soccer team hosts Mars in a key WPIAL Class 3A, Section 1 match at J.C. Stone Field in North Park, it will also serve as an awareness game to help bring attention to Rise Again a non-profit organization formed and started by a North Catholic family (the Browns) in honor of their son Alex, to support individuals with spinal cord injuries and the professionals that work with them.

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.

 The Kids on the Pitch Podcast, presented by Glory on the Grass Tournaments, returns for a special opening weekend of the High School soccer season edition, as PSN's John Krysinsky and Matt Popchock are joined by Pine-Richland Boys Head Coach Jordan Wiegand and South Park Girls Head Coach T.J. O'Brien. 

We're back! 

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.

PSN's John Krysinsky was joined by three coaches of teams that have reached this weekend's finals: 

• 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. 

The WPIAL Boys and Girls Soccer playoff brackets were released on Wednesday! 

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.