North Allegheny girls soccer looks to combine returning stars with young talent

By: Andrew John
Saturday, August 26, 2023 | 11:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

In three of the past four years, the North Allegheny girls soccer program has been standing on top of the WPIAL’s Class 4A heap. Even after the graduation of a well-decorated senior class, the Tigers still have the firepower to defend their title.

If they are going to be successful in that quest, the Tigers (21-2) will have to find a way to make up for the production lost by the graduation of Lucia Wells.

Wells, a first team all-WPIAL selection, finished with a team-high 30 goals last season. Wells, who is now at Pitt, is the program’s all-time leading scorer with 80 goals.

“There’s a lot of talent coming back, but there’s some players that will be missing from last year that will be difficult to replace,” coach Chuck Kelley said. “But there are a lot of young players that are looking forward to that challenge of replacing them in the starting lineup.”

Senior forward Abigail Stager, a Kentucky recruit, will look to take a bigger step forward with the departure of Wells.

Senior midfielder Ally Ruiz will also have an expanded role this year. Stager and Ruiz were named to the Moe Rosenteel Player of the Year Award watch list.

Senior forward Samantha Braden and senior midfielders Libby Earley, Natalie Figura and Jadyn Coy also return for the Tigers. On the back end, junior defender Madison Miller and senior Natalie Rak are back.

“We focus on our principles and how we play. That’s the emphasis,” Kelley said. “We want to play a certain way. We want to be as competitive as we can and continue to progress and get better each game and each day. There is constant work behind the scenes to make sure we are successful.”

The Tigers won back-to-back titles in 2019-2020 before recapturing the WPIAL Class 4A crown with a 2-1 win over Peters Township after penalty kicks last year. North Allegheny’s season came to an end after a 2-1 loss in the PIAA quarterfinals to Central Dauphin, the eventual state champions.

Last season, the Tigers outscored opponents 104-19, which included 10 shutouts.

Aside from the loss of Wells, North Allegheny will need to make up for the impact lost from the graduation of forward Anna Bundy and midfielders Riley Cerqua and Sophia Palermo. Bundy is now at Duquesne, Cerqua at St. Francis (Pa.) and Palermo at Slippery Rock.

“For all the WPIAL championships, they’ve been a part of it,” Kelley said. “It’s interesting to take a step back and reflect. I think some of them played as freshmen on the road to that first WPIAL championship and to see them continue on that track, I was really proud of that group of players.

“I think there is a larger picture in that it doesn’t come down to their class. It comes down to that last nine years with my involvement and however many years prior to that we had the girls program at North Allegheny. We’ve had really good players and teams that have come through.”

Kelley hopes to keep the program’s success going with the next wave of talented underclassmen. Kelley expects a pair of sophomores — midfielder Emma Schupansky and defender Ava Hutter — to make an impact for the Tigers.

Freshman midfielder Sahara Catlos and freshman forward Kieran Shannon look to get critical playing time this season.

Kelley hopes to instill the Tiger way of playing soccer with the next wave of young players.

“It’s about staying true to your values and making sure we do the right things at the right times,” Kelley said. “We need to make sure to lean on one another as opposed to trying to fast forward or rush through what we’re supposed to be enjoying.

“We want to enjoy what we are doing together. We want to enjoy competition against other teams. Life is going by so quickly, so we need to find the joy in each moment.”

Tags: North Allegheny