Fox Chapel locks in, beats Plum to return to WPIAL Class 3A championship game

By: Michael Love
Tuesday, October 29, 2024 | 9:09 PM

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Fox Chapel is heading back to Highmark Stadium for a shot at a second straight WPIAL championship.

Sophomore Emily McKee and senior Maddie Grimsley tallied first-half goals for the top-seeded Foxes, senior Alyssa Quackenbush scored in the second half, and the defense limited the normally potent offensive attack of No. 4 Plum in a 3-0 victory in a Class 3A semifinal Tuesday evening at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium.

“The girls were so ready for this opportunity from the start of the playoffs,” Fox Chapel coach Carlo Prati said. “We had those two back-to-back losses to two really good teams in South Fayette and Peters at the end of the regular season. The girls were like, ‘Hey, we’ve got to lock in here.’ They rode the momentum of the first two playoff games and even last year’s run right into this one. Plum, I think, had one or two shots against us. It was just a great team effort.”

With Tuesday’s result, Fox Chapel (17-2-1) has outscored playoff opponents Plum, Montour and Indiana by a combined 18-1.

“Of our three playoff games, this one was probably the sloppiest,” Prati said. “We kind of assumed this tight field was narrow and that we wouldn’t be like ourselves. But we still were able to find the back of the net three times on a really good Plum team, so we can’t stress out too much about it.”

Fox Chapel will play the winner of Tuesday’s late game between No. 2 South Fayette and No. 6 Mars for the gold at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The Foxes beat North Allegheny last year at Highmark to claim the Class 4A crown.

“We know we have a big target on our backs this year after winning 4A last year,” Quackenbush said. “Winning 3A would be really special for all of us. We’re really looking forward to Saturday’s game. It should be a lot of fun.”

Despite the loss, Plum (17-2) is not done.

The Mustangs will play for the final WPIAL playoff spot from Class 3A to the PIAA tournament in the third-place game at 8 p.m. Thursday at North Allegheny.

Plum last made the state playoffs in 2022.

“That was 100 percent the message after the game, that the season is not over,” Plum coach Jamie Stewart said. “It wasn’t what we wanted tonight, but we have to come back and be ready to play on Thursday. All the teams are quality at this time of the season. It will be a challenge, but the girls are happy to have the opportunity to play again.”

Plum and Fox Chapel, former section rivals, met for the first time since a nonconference game late in the 2021 regular season.

Plum garnered a little more possession in the early stages of the second half, but it remained a challenge to get any scoring chances near the Fox Chapel goal and on senior keeper Gianna Patterson.

Meanwhile, the Foxes generated three shots on goal in the first 15 minutes as they hoped to add to their two-goal advantage.

Plum junior Olivia Bigger boomed a shot from 35 yards with 20:30 left in regulation for her team’s first shot of the second half. The attempt sailed a couple of feet wide of the Fox Chapel right goal post.

A corner kick from Bigger with 16:25 left was deflected out of the Fox Chapel goal box.

Quackenbush’s goal to make it 3-0 came with about 15 minutes left.

“We came in with an adrenaline rush because of our first two playoff games, and we really locked down and believed in ourselves,” Quackenbush said. “I think that is what really did it for us.”

Both the Foxes and Mustangs brought the intensity in the first couple minutes.

Fox Chapel recorded the game’s first two shots on goal in the fifth minute, but the attempts, one each from McKee and Grimsley, were corralled by Plum senior keeper McKenna Anderson.

The Foxes’ third shot put them in the lead for good.

McKee gained control of the ball and moved into the Plum goal box. She was met at 10 yards by a Mustangs defender and Anderson.

But McKee came out of the fray with the ball and pushed it into the back of the net for the goal with exactly 11 minutes elapsed in the first half. The score was her sixth of the playoffs and team-best 38th of the season.

“I could tell by their warmups that the girls were a little more nervous than usual because it was at this stage, and they knew what was at stake,” Prati said. “The goal relaxed them. Emily has just been lights-out for us all year long. The one thing about Emily is that if you give her just a hair of a space, she is able to make something out of what appears to be nothing.”

Fox Chapel made it 2-0 with 5:09 to play until halftime as Grimsley fired the Foxes’ eighth shot on goal past Anderson.

Plum picked up its first shot of the game with 12:00 on the first-half clock as junior Meghan Stammer unleased a free kick from about 30 yards that sailed just wide left of the Foxes goal.

“Defensively, Fox Chapel locks you down,” Stewart said. “They have such a strong offense where they take advantage of the scoring opportunities when they come to them. They did a good job offensively tonight to cause some havoc on us. Their aggression in the midfield, I don’t think we were able to respond very well to it. To be honest, this was not our best effort, and unfortunately, it came in this game with what was on the line.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Fox Chapel, Plum