North Allegheny girls soccer gets defensive in WPIAL title defense
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Saturday, October 2, 2021 | 11:01 AM
North Allegheny’s Abigail Stager (left) celebrates with teammates after scoring the Tigers’ first goal against Seneca Valley on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, in McCandless. NA won, 2-0.
North Allegheny’s Briona Rice battles Seneca Valley’s Ayla Ward for a header during their game on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, in McCandless. NA won, 2-0.
North Allegheny’s Abigail Stager collides with Seneca Valley’s Sydney Smith during their game on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, in McCandless. NA won, 2-0.
North Allegheny’s Abigail Stager works on goal between Seneca Valley’s Sydney Smith (30) and keeper Virginia Fronk during their game on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, in McCandless.
North Allegheny’s Sophia Palermo (left) battles Seneca Valley’s Natalie Matthews for a header last month. The Tigers’ 2-0 victory was one of five consecutive shutouts the team posted to start the season.
North Allegheny’s Jadyn Coy battles Seneca Valley’s Natalie Matthews for possession during their game on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, in McCandless. NA won, 2-0.
North Allegheny’s Abigail Stager (right) pressures Seneca Valley’s Emma Maloberti during their game on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, in McCandless. NA won, 2-0.
North Allegheny’s Abigail Stager celebrates after scoring the Tigers’ first goal against Seneca Valley on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021, in McCandless. NA won, 2-0.
As two-time reigning WPIAL champions, the girls on North Allegheny’s soccer team are trying to defend their title again this fall, with an added emphasis on the word “defend.”
They’ve outscored their first nine opponents 53-1 and posted eight shutouts.
“There are a lot of teams that are giving you their best game every night. To keep a clean sheet — even when you put on some of the younger players — it’s nice to see,” NA coach Chuck Kelley said.
The coach credits the team’s early success to a carryover of talent from last season when the Tigers won the WPIAL Class 4A title and finished as PIAA runners-up. The program graduated only four starters, meaning most of this year’s lineup already had experience.
“There was a lot of continuity from last year to this year,” Kelley said. “The core is back.”
The defense is led by seniors Alexis Spano, Kena Shannon and Olivia Mark — all returning starters. They play in front of senior goalkeeper Megan Miller, who wasn’t a starter a year ago but did handle significant varsity minutes, particularly in the state playoffs.
Shutting out every opponent is always the goal, but the Tigers weren’t banking on already having eight of them, he said.
However, once they celebrated a few shutouts in a row, players naturally wanted more.
To start the season, North Allegheny shut out Cumberland Valley, 2-0; Penn-Trafford, 3-0; McDowell, 5-0; Seneca Valley, 2-0; and Baldwin, 12-0, before playing to a 1-1 tie against Butler on Sept. 23. The section game with Butler was a rematch of last year’s WPIAL final.
“You’re just going out and playing,” Kelley said. “All of a sudden there are no goals against in our first game. And then there are no goals against in your second game. It morphs into a target that wasn’t our goal as a team.”
The Tigers haven’t put any added focus on playing a defensive game, but the early results speak for themselves.
A year ago, the team allowed 13 goals in nine regular-season games. In 2019, opponents scored 19 times in 17 games. Both of those seasons ended in WPIAL titles for the Tigers.
“We try to be good in all of the different phases every year,” Kelley said. “This is just one of those (years) where we’ve been able to prevent a lot of chances from the other teams.”
Miller needed to make only one save in the season-opening win over Cumberland Valley. Her teammates then outshot Penn-Trafford, 14-1, in the second game.
That dominance starts upfront. Senior midfielder Hallie Marsalis, junior midfielders Sophia Palermo and Anna Bundy and junior forward Lucia Wells are returning starters.
“It’s been a collective,” Kelley said. “It doesn’t come down to just the goalkeeper.”
Wells leads the team with 12 goals. She was the team’s second-leading scorer a year ago with 19, behind then-senior Sarah Schupansky.
Palermo has six goals, and Burns has five.
“We want to be an attacking team that has the ball and creates and makes a lot of chances for our team,” Kelley said. “We want to put a lot of pressure on the other team.”
So far, that’s something opponents haven’t done too often to the Tigers.
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.
Tags: North Allegheny
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