Penn-Trafford girls soccer ‘driven’ toward success

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, October 25, 2017 | 5:03 PM

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Penn-Trafford is a regular visitor to the WPIAL girls soccer playoffs. It's been over two decades since the team missed the postseason.

But unlike past seasons, the Warriors can't hide behind a middle-of-the-pack seed or bracket-formed presumption that they're not going to make the finals.

The Warriors (14-3-1) began the Class AAAA playoffs as the No. 2 seed, their best seeding since 2003 when they were No. 1 and won the WPIAL Class AAA championship.

With expectations raised again, and a new confident glow to match, the team that finally took down mighty Norwin is trying to stay grounded, apply a business-as-usual approach and live up to it all.

“Normally we're the underdogs, and we do better then,” said senior midfielder Hannah Nguyen, a Duquesne recruit. “No one expects us to win so we just want to prove everyone wrong. This time, there is more pressure, like we have to do it. So, we have to do it.”

Nguyen leads the team in goals with 20 and assists with 21.

Handling the pressure that comes with the No. 2 seed is a matter of perspective, Warriors third-year coach Jackie Bartko said.

“My first year we were third (in the section) and lost in the first round,” Bartko said. “My second year we were second and lost in the second round. We talk two or three times during practice, we pull them aside and reiterate how our season has gone and what our goals are.

“The only way we can achieve those goals is to put the work in.”

Penn-Trafford knocked two-time defending champion Norwin down a peg with a 1-0 win against its rival, a goal by Army recruit Lauren Stovar off a perfect corner kick from Nguyen the slight yet at the same time, huge difference. Norwin had won 47 straight regular-season games and 43 section games in a row when the Warriors pulled the stunner and even bumped Norwin from the No. 1 spot in the national rankings.

While some believe it wasn't as much a stunner as it was great soccer, it all translated into the Warriors' first section title since 2013.

They later tied 0-0 in an old-fashioned classic at Norwin Stadium.

With an all-or-nothing mentality and amped-up play in both meetings, the teams brought out the best in one another, much to the satisfaction of Bartko.

She calls what her team gave, “Norwin effort.”

“That's what we need in every (playoff) game,” she said. “All of our energy and crawling off the field afterwards. A no-quit attitude. We know the opportunity could exist to play them again, and that would be great, but we can't look ahead.”

With Norwin lurking on the opposite side of the bracket, Penn-Trafford knows a rubber match could be on the horizon and — assuming both teams take care of business and win three playoff games — the third meeting would be in the WPIAL championship game Nov. 2, 3 or 4 at Highmark Stadium.

The trick for both teams is not to look ahead, past early-round opponents. Both breezed by first-round games and are set for Thursday's quarterfinals.

“Pretend like each team we're playing is just as good as Norwin,” Nguyen said. “So we don't overlook them. And we can play with that same mindset. Playing against Norwin gives us the best mindset; we're ready for that game. We have to treat all our games like that.”

And speaking of rematches, Penn-Trafford gets one with No. 7 Fox Chapel (13-5-1) at 8 p.m. Thursday at Norwin Stadium.

The Foxes clipped the Warriors in overtime 2-1 in Penn-Trafford's final regular-season game. The loss, by all accounts, did not affect seeding.

“We took Fox Chapel lightly, and they beat us,” said Warriors senior midfielder Mackenzie Aunkst, a West Virginia recruit. “We need to focus and play every game like it's our last.”

Familiarity is sneaky weapon in the WPIAL playoffs, and Penn-Trafford hopes to us it to its advantage.

“Playing them already makes us more driven,” Bartko said. “We let them come back last time, and we couldn't find the back of the net.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Fox Chapel, Penn-Trafford