A shaky early start to the boys' high school soccer season left Belle Vernon Area at 3-3 overall and 1-2 in its section.

Leopards coach Chris Stasicha was shuffling his lineup and even moved away from his familiar 3-5-2 formation. After that shaky start, Stasicha mixed things up and changed a few players and their positions. Different starters in different positions gave Stasicha a better mix of players and he went with a 4-4-2 formation.

The Leopards would follow with a 12-2 tear including a six-game winning streak, the longest in two years for Belle Vernon and an upset over then No. 1 Burrell.

The Leopards finished the regular season with a 15-5 overall record, 10-4 in Section 1-AA, good for third place and a WPIAL playoff berth.

They'll play at Beaver Area (17-3) Tuesday in the first round of the playoffs.

"Our season was a little disappointing at times but after that [winning] stretch, it was just a matter of getting them a little bit of confidence and finding the right mix," Stasicha said.

Belle Vernon went with a rotation of two seniors, four juniors, four sophomores and a freshman.

"It was just trying to find the right combination that worked for us," Stasicha said. "The 3-5-2 wasn't working for us, even though we had used it in the last couple of years, it just wasn't working with this group of kids."

They have been involved in 10 one-goal games and in those tight contests Stasicha said his players' conditioning paid off. The Leopards won seven of those.

"The kids were complaining a lot in July when we were running," he said. "For some of the bigger games, we needed to be in shape and that gave us an edge. A lot of those one-goal games, it came down to who can outlast whom."

Mark Tomich has completed quite the stat book oddity this season. He not only leads the team in goals with 14, but also in assists, with 12. Senior D.J. Mori has battled through a hamstring injury all season as a center midfielder and still managed 13 goals.

P.J. Tasser has stepped in at sweeper after an injury and has performed well. He is also a wrestler and was an all-section honorable mention selection last year and was voted one of the team captains by his teammates.

"He is a tremendous athlete and he controls our defense. When he is on his game, he is hard to beat," Stasicha said.

The Leopards have a strong two-way player in center midfielder Matt Miele. From his position he is asked to help out on defense more and in the case of a penalty kick, Belle Vernon looks to him to take it. They lost their starting stopper, Ben Burnsworth, to a concussion in the game against Kiski.

Joining the starting lineup late in the season is Chris Kovalchuk. He stepped in after an injury and became the regular stopper.

"He electrifies the team. He is a ball magnet," said Stasicha.

In net for the Leopards is first year keeper Andrew Gagliardi. He moved to net from his defender position. Gagliardi's dad is a former goalie and he attended various goaltending camps over the summer. In front of him is left defender Ryan Sotak.

The Leopards played well down the stretch to cruise into the WPIAL playoffs.

In his fifth season Stasicha says he thinks his team is ready for a postseason run.

"I think they are ready," Stasicha said. "I don't know if there's one dominant team this year.

"[Now that we've qualified], we have a chance of winning a game or two and hopefully that's motivation enough."