Garnering the No. 4 seed, the Eagles have the added benefit of beginning their postseason run in from of its home crowd. Wednesday’s quarterfinal set to start at 8 p.m. at Alumni Stadium.

It’s the second time they’ve hosted a quarterfinal in three years, with the team hosting – and defeating – West Shamokin in the district quarters in 2023. Ultimately, the Eagles would fall to Richland in the ensuing semifinal before failing to clinch a playoff bid in 2024.

Following a tough 2024 campaign, Bald Eagle (9-6-2) has built its way back up, starting 2025 with a 5-1-1 record and finishing with its most regular-season wins since 2019.

The strong season wasn’t without its bumps in the road, as a gut-wrenching loss to rival Bellefonte kicked off a three-game, midseason skid that threatened to dip its record back below .500. But head coach Jason Bair and his team came out of the Bellefonte loss hoping to improve. And eventually, that goal came to fruition.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Bald Eagle Area defender Jacob Richardson (7) kicks the ball out of bounds during a boys soccer game against Bellefonte on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, at Rogers Stadium. The Eagles face Cambria Heights in district quarters on Wednesday.

“This isn’t going to to break us. This is going to make us as we continue on with the season,” said Bair following the Bellefonte loss. “We want to learn from it, and we want to continue to get better. We have a lot more games to go.”

Through their final seven games, the Eagles went 4-2-1, with just one setback loss to Philipsburg-Osceola (3-15) and the other being a close loss to Hollidaysburg (15-2-1), who holds the top seed in the Class 3A bracket. Its biggest win of that span was a 2-0 victory over Tyrone (12-6), the No. 3 seed in Class 3A.

On two separate occasions this season, the Eagles have tied Penns Valley (10-5-3) – the No. 2 seed in Class 2A. They also defeated Class 2A No. 3 seed Huntingdon (11-7) in September, with those four outcomes factoring into BEA edging out Cambria Heights for a quarterfinal host slot.

For Cambria Heights, the hope is to overcome a bumpy October. After winning eight of their ten September matchups, the Highlanders went 2-4 through the regular season’s final half-month, closing the campaign with a 5-2 loss to Penn Cambria.

They’re led by junior striker Nate Conaway, who has 17 goals on the season. How the Eagles manage to contain the striker could certainly make or break their chances.

The winner of Wednesday’s quarterfinal will face the winner of No. 1 Juniata and No. 8 Penn Cambria, whose Tuesday matchup won’t wrap up in time for this edition. That semifinal matchup take place next Monday.