Talent returns for Fox Chapel girls soccer

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, August 23, 2017 | 7:45 PM

The last two seasons, Fox Chapel girls soccer enjoyed a run of success it hadn't seen in over a decade, advancing to the WPIAL semifinals twice and the PIAA playoffs once.

Eight of the girls who helped set a strong standard, including three Division I recruits, graduated after last season, but with some experience coming back, the Foxes hope to be in contention again.

Dixon Veltri (UNC Wilmington), Deena DeBaldo (Duquesne) and Annamarie Alfery (Akron) all played a big role for the Foxes the last couple of years and leave some spots to fill, but the Foxes are not bereft of talent. They return four all-section players in Sarah Sinnott, Katie Livingston, Gretta Lazzara and Katie Fetzko.

“We still have a foundation,” Fox Chapel coach Peter Torres said. “We don't have the superstars yet that we had the past couple of years, but it is good for us to develop some girls that can fill those roles. Losing them after last year does change things. We lost some goal scorers and quality play all over the field. It's going to be a challenge for them to step up, but it gives them an opportunity to show what they can do.

“It was hard to try and knock off some of those girls, so we have some girls that have been waiting in the wings and biding their time for an opportunity. We're hoping they take it, and we assume they will.”

Sinnott, a junior, will be asked to lead the forwards, while Livingston, a senior, will anchor the backfield. Both will be responsible for helping bring along some of the younger players stepping in for the first time. The Foxes will carry 40 players on the roster this fall.

“Sarah has a fantastic first touch, and she's very good at distributing the ball,” Torres said. “I think she'll have a lot of success. She'll draw a lot of attention from the opponent. Katie has been there from the beginning. She's been in the playoffs all three years and has advanced further each year. She can take a leadership role, put this team on her back and hopefully lead us to some success.”

The Foxes have an unusual situation in goal with two experienced juniors sharing time in Fetzko and Julie Scheffler. Fetzko took the starting job in the playoffs, but Sheffler also has seen postseason action in the past. Torres expects the duo to continue pushing each other and keep a positive relationship.

“We have a pair of junior goalies that are high quality,” Torres said. “Both of them have played a significant amount of time, both have won a playoff game, and they are capable of pushing each other. We have a good problem. Both of them want to play. Nobody wants to sit, but they're great teammates to each other. They push each other and care about the success that the other one has. They are both very valuable to this team.”

Fox Chapel shared the Section 3-4A title with Plum last year. The Foxes expect to battle the Mustangs once again for section superiority. Allderdice and Penn Hills were the other two teams in the section to reach the postseason.

“Plum is never going to let you walk into their place and let you beat them up,” Torres said. “They are a very organized team defensively. We caught them in a bit of a weak moment the first time we faced them last year, and we had some success, but then we went to their place and they pretty much shut us down. We lost that game and ended up sharing the section title. You don't want to share anything, but I think that loss kind of motivated us for our postseason run.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer.

Tags: Fox Chapel