Mother-daughter WPIAL champs show soccer’s hold on Quaker Valley

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, November 17, 2024 | 11:01 AM

The groundwork for the 2024 Quaker Valley girls WPIAL Class 2A soccer championship was laid back in 1991-92.

Maybe even earlier.

“Soccer runs deep in Sewickley,” said 1994 QV graduate Ashley Miko. “Most of the girls and boys grew up playing Sewickley Area Soccer, which has been around for 50 years.”

Sit in the stands at a Quaker Valley soccer match and it’s likely that you will bump into someone who has a relative or a family member competing for the Quakers.

For instance, Ashley Miko played on the QV girls team from 1990-1994 and the Quakers were WPIAL titlists in ‘91 and ‘92. Miko was a sophomore midfielder on the program’s first WPIAL championship team.

Her daughter, Annabel, is a starting forward on the current WPIAL championship team.

“It has been exciting to watch this team throughout the season and to finish as WPIAL champs,” Ashley Miko said. “They are very talented and have different skill sets which work well together. I always joke around with Annabel that they have so much more than we had. There was nothing behind the high school except a grass field, two nets and a few bleachers.

“Winning this with her team means the world to her, but watching her win this as her mom means even more. I don’t remember much about when my team won, but I will never forget Annabel’s team winning.”

Of course, the WPIAL championship has been a topic of discussion in the Miko household throughout the fall season.

“My mom and I definitely talked during the season about how cool it’d be (to win the title),” Annabel Miko said, “but we didn’t want to jinx it. It had been so long since QV girls soccer won (the title) that we both just really wanted this win for my team.

“We actually didn’t realize that my mom was also a sophomore until the day of WPIAL finals. We joke around back and forth about whose team is better.”

Ashley Miko’s maiden name is Hoehl.

“I was a sophomore when we won WPIALs in 1991,” she said. “I was a junior when we won in 1992. I dressed and played varsity all four years in some capacity. I dressed varsity as a freshman, which was important for me.

“I was not a starter as a freshman or sophomore but did get playing time on varsity those years. I started as a junior and senior and played midfield all four years. I was surrounded by top players who made my job easy.”

Coached by Dom Vezza, the QV girls went undefeated in 1991, won WPIAL titles in ‘91 and ‘92 and were ranked No. 1 in the nation by NSCAA.

“I am still in contact with coach Vezza today,” Ashley Miko said. “He still comes to watch the girls play.”

It seems the Miko mother-daughter tandem is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to family dynamics and Quaker Valley soccer.

“There are a ton of soccer family connections other than Annabel and me,” said Miko, the mom. “Eliza Rahm is on the QV girls team and her dad played on the boys soccer team. He played during the Gene Klein era. They have more PIAA titles than any other soccer team in the state and more WPIAL titles than any other 2A classification team.

“My brother, Matt Hoehl, played under Gene Klein in the 90s. His son and Annabel’s cousin, Sutton Hoehl, plays for the QV boys soccer team that was the runner-up in states last year. Lily Baker is on the (current) girls team, and her aunt Courtney Baker was on the ‘91 and ‘92 WPIAL teams. There is so much history in Quaker Valley soccer that I could go on for quite some time.”

The floor is yours.

“I think it is amazing how there are so many connections in our soccer community,” Mrs. Miko continued. “This success that the girls and boys are having brings back the excitement and feeling that we all experienced during the coach Vezza and coach Klein days. I know coach Vezza is impressed as he has said, and I also know coach Klein would be proud.

“Quaker Valley always was a strong soccer town. We all benefited from coach Klein and his many successes. Coach Vezza created the girls legacy in the ‘90s. All four of his daughters played and were all amazing players.”

Annabel Miko had extra incentive to capture the WPIAL championship in 2024.

“I always have the drive to win,” she said, “and I wanted to make sure that we won so we have that title too. I also wanted the win for our two seniors, Mia (Modrovich) and Anna (Hanley).”

The Miko family lives in Sewickley and includes Ashley, her husband Kevin, and their two daughters, Annabel, who is 15, and Bitsy, 12.

“When Annabel is a senior, my younger daughter will be a freshman on the soccer team,” Ashley Miko said. “We joke with both of them and tell Bitsy to take Annabel’s starting position when she’s a freshman and Annabel is a senior.”

Mrs. Miko teaches third grade at Franklin Elementary School in the North Allegheny School District. Her coworker, Susie Modrovich, is the mother of Mia Modrovich, one of the two seniors on the 2024 championship squad at QV.

“Like I said, many connections,” Ashley Miko said. “Although Annabel’s goal is set on playing at the collegiate level, I did not play in college. I get to live vicariously through her. I’m loving following this team; it’s exciting and sentimental.”

Tags: Quaker Valley