With the high school season only several months away, we are re-posting the 2017-18 PIAA brackets
By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 7/15/16, Re-posted 12/26/16
The PIAA has announced the brackets for the next two years of the boys’ and girls’ championship fields, the first ones that will feature Classes AA and AAA.
Each of the four fields will have 16 teams with the number of qualifiers per district solely based on the number of teams that play in each district.
Also, PIAA Associate Executive Director Melissa Mertz told Phillylacrosse.com that it’s expected that the championship games will be held in the Philly region the next two years; the finals had always been scheduled at HersheyPark Stadium but were switched late this spring to West Chester East to accommodate the Beyonce concert.
PIAA lacrosse Boys ‘Brackets 2017-18
In the girls’ fields, District 1 will advance seven teams in Class AAA and four in Class AA while in the boys’ fields District 1 gets six AAA qualifiers and three in AA. The biggest news is that District 12 (Catholic and Public Leagues) will get two qualifiers both for the boys’ AA and AAA tourney; it will get one each in AAA and AA for the girls.
In the past, District 12 had only one qualifier for the boys’ field; perennially La Salle (two PIAA titles, three second-place finishes) and St. Joseph’s Prep (two second-place PIAA finishes) have battled bitterly for the one PIAA berth. For two Catholic League teams to make the PIAA field, though, District 12 would need to change its current tournament which only features the Catholic League champion facing the Public League champion and expand to at least two teams from each field with the teams seeded.
The boys’ and girls’ fields for 2017-18 are listed below. The qualifiers are adjusted every two years based on new enrollment figures and the number of teams per district.
The boys’ breakdown of teams for AA and AAA for 2017-18
The girls’ breakdown of teams for AA and AAA for 2017-18
The other notable development of the brackets is that all four District 1 girls’ qualifiers and the District 12 champion are on the same side of the bracket in Class AA – meaning that for the first time a team from outside of the Southeast region will advance to a PIAA title game.
PIAA Boys’ Tournament, 2017-18
PIAA lacrosse Girls’ Brackets 2017-18
Class AA
District 1 – 22 teams, 3 qualifiers
District 2 – 8 teams, 1 qualifier
District 3 – 30 teams, 5 qualifiers
District 4 – 4 teams, 1 qualifier
Districts 6/10 – 5 teams, 1 qualifier
District 7 – 15 teams, 2 qualifiers
District 11 – 5 teams, 1 qualifier
District 12 – 10 teams, 2 qualifiers
Class AAA
District 1 – 39 teams, 6 qualifiers
Districts 2, 11 – 9 teams, 1 qualifier
District 3 – 18 teams, 3 qualifiers
Districts 6/7/10 – 23 teams, 4 qualifiers
District 12 – 12 teams, 2 qualifiers
Class AA – First Round matchups
1-1 vs. 3-5
11/2-1 vs. 3-4
2-1 vs. 4-1
12-1 vs. 3-3
1-2 vs. 12-2
3-1 vs. 1-3
3-2 vs. 7-2
6/10-1 vs. 7/1
Class AAA – First Round matchups
12-1 vs. 1-5
11-1 vs. 1-4
12-2 vs. 1-3
1-2 vs. 3-3
1-1 vs. 1-6
7-2 vs. 3-2
3-1 vs. 7-3
6/7/10-1 vs. 7-4
PIAA Girls’ Tournament, 2017-18
Class AA
District 1 – 27 teams, 4 qualifiers
District 2 – 8 teams, 1 qualifier
District 3 – 26 teams, 4 qualifiers
District 4 – 5 teams, 1 qualifier
Districts 6/10 – 4 teams, 1 qualifier
District 7 – 20 teams, 2 qualifiers
District 11 – 4 teams, 1 qualifier
District 12 – 12 teams, 2 qualifiers
Class AAA
District 1 – 45 teams, 7 qualifiers
Districts 2, 11 – 10 teams, 2 qualifiers
District 3 – 23 teams, 3 qualifiers
Districts 6/7/10 – 23 teams, 3 qualifiers
District 12 – 9 teams, 1 qualifiers
Class AA – First Round matchups
1-1 vs. 3-3
11-1 vs. 1-3
2-1 vs. 1-2
12-1 vs. 1-4
4-1 vs. 3-2
6/10-1 vs. 7-2
3-1 vs. 7-3
7-1 vs. 3-4
Class AAA – First Round matchups
1-1 vs. 1-7
2/11-1 vs. 1-4
2/11-2 vs. 1-3
12-1 vs. 1-5
1-2 vs. 3-3
3-2 vs. 7-2
3-1 vs. 1-6
6/7/10-1 vs. 7-3