North Hills boys hope to overcome graduation losses

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, August 25, 2017 | 11:00 PM

Sometimes in life, you are forced to grow up sooner than expected.

For the members of the 2017 North Hills boys soccer team, that is the predicament they find themselves in.

After graduating every starter but one, the Indians will rely on a bevy of underclassmen and a handful of inexperienced upperclassmen.

“Our biggest question mark is the young guys stepping up,” coach Jared Steigerwald said. “A lot of those younger kids are going to have to contribute sooner than they thought because of the turnover.”

Entering his fourth season as coach, Steigerwald has brought the program back to the winning days of when he was a player there in the late 1990's. Steigerwald was a part of the only North Hills team to make it to a WPIAL championship in 1999.

Since his graduation, the Indians' program went through decades of losing before he returned home, leading his alma mater to the playoffs in all three seasons he has been coach.

The Indians are coming off a season where they snuck into the playoffs by finishing fourth in Section 1-AAAA with a 9-8-2 record, but lost 3-0 to Allderdice in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs.

“Losing was a culture that was accepted here,” Steigerwald said. “We changed that when I came back. Even though we lost 10 starters, it is not an excuse if we don't make the playoffs. My expectations are still as high as they were when we started.”

To make a fourth straight trip to the playoffs, it will take a lot of unknown players making an impact. The lone starter returning is senior goalkeeper Adam Warsing. Warsing will be entering his second year as the Indians' goalie. A couple other players Steigerwald is looking to make an impact in a leadership role are seniors Noah Maxwell and Kevin Lovasik.

“These are more quiet kids,” Steigerwald said. “I have seen them try to contact players or get groups together throughout the summer. They have taken on bigger roles. I challenged them with leadership roles early in the spring.”

One other thing going against the Indians is that they will be playing in the toughest section in their classification. Headlining their section is defending WPIAL champion North Allegheny, WPIAL runner-up Seneca Valley, and PIAA qualifier Pine-Richland.

“I believe we play in the toughest section in Class 4A, as we have the two returning WPIAL finalists and all three PIAA state representatives from this section,” Steigerwald said. “The challenge is great, but one our players have accepted and look forward to as we strive to make the playoffs a fourth straight season. Every game is a battle top to bottom.”

It won't be long before Steigerwald can see what his team is made of. The Indians will open their season Sept. 7 at home against Brashear.

“I am anxious for the start of the season and interested in watching some of our position battles and young guys really step up and showcase themselves,” Steigerwald said. “My hopes are that we continue to challenge each other in each practice and push to make each other better on a daily basis as we progress to and throughout the season.“

Drew Karpen is a freelance writer.

Tags: North Hills