A year ago the Upper St. Clair boys' soccer team put itself in some elite company when it became only the fifth WPIAL team to win a PIAA Class AAA championship.

	Players to Watch 2004 Post-Gazette Boys' Rankings (Records from last season) WPIAL CLASS AAA 1 Upper St. Clair 22-4-1 2 Peters Township 21-3-0 3 Bethel Park 11-8-0 4 Fox Chapel 21-2-0 5 Hampton 13-9-1 6 Baldwin 16-4-1 7 Chartiers Valley 13-5-1 8 Shaler 19-2-1 9 Mt. Lebanon 17-7-1 10 Penn Hills 7-11-2 CLASS AA 1 Moon 21-2-3 2 Thomas Jefferson 19-9-0 3 Deer Lakes 15-4-3 4 Elizabeth Forward 12-7-1 5 South Park 22-3-0 6 Riverside 11-9-0 7 Beaver 17-3-2 8 Mars 16-5-1 9 Belle Vernon 11-7-2 10 Ambridge 13-4-3 CLASS A 1 Greensburg C.C 22-2-0 2 Quaker Valley 12-8-2 3 Sewickley Academy 12-10-2 4 Chartiers-Houston 19-4-1 5 Trinity Christian 21-4-0 CITY LEAGUE 1 Allderdice 14-5-0 2 Schenley 8-10-0 3 Brashear 11-8-0

This season the Panthers could be in a class by themselves.

Upper St. Clair has a good chance to become the first WPIAL team to win consecutive PIAA Class AAA titles. The Panthers begin the season as the Post-Gazette's No. 1 team in WPIAL Class AAA.

"This team is very focused," said Upper St. Clair coach Uwe Schneider. "There is a big target on these kids' backs this year and they're aware of that. That championship was last year, though. This is a new year."

But with a lot of old faces. Ten starters return from last year's squad that defeated West Chester East, 1-0, in the PIAA title game. Senior midfielder Scott Dillie is considered one of the best all-around players in the WPIAL.

Senior forward Andy Machi and senior defender Cam Griffin are two other standouts. Machi scored 18 goals last season. Other returning senior starters are defender Mitch Minerd, forward Brett Fackenthat, midfielder Eric Seduska, defender Phil Burdette, defender Mike Walters-Slezak and midfielder Cole Conboy.

Upper St. Clair should also be strong in goal with senior Andrew Baldasare and senior Joe Diederich, who split time at the position last year.

"We have a lot of experience and leadership," Schneider said. "This is a very cohesive team. It's not an individual type of team."

Here is a look at some of the other top teams in the WPIAL and City League.

WPIAL Class AAA

No. 2-ranked Peters Township has six returning starters from a team that won the WPIAL Class AAA title.

"Plus, we'll have two or three freshmen who could end up starting, with no drop in talent level," said Peters Township coach Rod Eldridge.

Junior forward Chris Wilcox is one of the top players. Senior midfielder/forward Eric Floyd and senior defender Ryan Floyd are among the other returning starters.

No. 3 Bethel Park will be led by senior goalkeeper Tom Korhnak, who had 10 shutouts last season. Senior Kyle Ferlic is a talented defender and part of the reason the Black Hawks allowed only 13 goals last year.

Class AA

Moon is the defending WPIAL champion and the team to beat again. One of the main reasons is senior forward John Morihlatko, who scored 40 goals last season. Senior Greg Lani led a defense that had 18 shutouts. Other returning starters are senior midfielder Jeremy Pronto, senior defender Eric Hamilton and senior midfielder Matt Kaiser.

A potent one-two scoring punch makes Thomas Jefferson one of the title contenders. Senior midfielder Evan Browne scored 32 goals last season and his brother, Ryan, a junior midfielder, added 27. Junior forward Jerry Tortella, who scored 16 goals last season, also returns.

No. 3 Deer Lakes features junior midfielder Brian Haschke, who scored 17 goals last season. Senior goalkeeper Matt Zeh had six shutouts.

Class A

No. 1 Greensburg Central Catholic is seeking its second consecutive WPIAL crown. The Centurions should be a high-scoring team with senior forward Jeff Farrell, who led the WPIAL in goals a year ago with 48. Senior Ted Sarniak has moved from midfielder to defender. He had 18 goals a year ago. Seniors Alex Brecht and Rob Dressman shared goalkeepking duties in 2003 and combined for 12 shutouts. Adam Quatrini, a senior forward, also should help after transferring from Latrobe.

Quaker Valley was always one of the better Class AA teams, and moves down to Class A.

"We've been to the playoffs, but we want to go beyond the early rounds," said Quaker Valley coach Gene Klein.

Senior forward Eric Markfield scored 13 goals last season and senior goalkeeper Zach Nadler had 11 shutouts. Six other starters return.

City League

Allderdice has won 13 of the past 14 City League championships and is the team to beat. Seven starters are back from last year, including senior forward Zach Appman, who scored 14 goals. Other returning starters are senior defender Anthony Bucci, senior defender Brett Behrends, junior defender Aaron Meyers, junior midfielder Josh Rudkin, senior midfielder Matt Spolar and senior forward Alex Aizenman.

"I've got a good gut feeling about this team, even for outside the City League," said Allderdice coach Ed Powers.