North Allegheny girls soccer team features experience throughout lineup

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, August 30, 2018 | 10:54 PM

Finding the right mix will be one of the most important challenges for the North Allegheny girls soccer team.

Last year, the Tigers rode experienced players to their first PIAA berth since 2011 before losing to eventual state champion Norwin in the quarterfinals. While North Allegheny lost many players from its squad that finished 14-8-1, coach Chuck Kelley feels the experience they return is spread evenly throughout the roster.

The Tigers opened the season with a nonsection clash against Hampton on Sept. 1, after deadline for this edition.

“It’s pretty spread out,” Kelley said. “A lot of younger players got opportunities that got us into the playoffs and further along into the playoffs, it was a nice building block for this year.”

One of those players was junior forward Emma Bundy, a Duquesne commit. Bundy led the team in scoring and formed a formidable scoring combination with Alex Adams.

Kelley said the North Allegheny roster, which features only six seniors, has many players dedicated to preparing to play the sport.

“We’re a focused group in that their experiences with North Allegheny and club teams, there are a lot of players preparing themselves year round to have a competitive season,” Kelley said.

One new hurdle for North Allegheny will be the addition of Fox Chapel to the section. The Foxes won their section last season and knocked Butler out of the WPIAL playoffs.

“I think the section is very competitive,” Kelley said. “The teams we play have been preparing us. We were able to schedule other teams outside the section but are still into Quad-A to help give us a look into how those other teams play and how those other sections compare to ours. There are some good teams in our section.”

North Allegheny won’t have to wait long to see where it stands.

The Tigers’ section opener was scheduled for Sept. 5 at Pine-Richland. North Allegheny will be able to start putting together the pieces and work out how everything fits together.

“There are new coaches that have come in,” Kelley said. “There are a lot of questions that we are waiting to see how they are going to be answered this year because there are new faces and people that graduated last year. That’s the way we are approaching it.”

Josh Rizzo is a freelance writer.

Tags: North Allegheny