Penn-Trafford beats Fox Chapel for 8th WPIAL field hockey title in row

By: Ted Sarneso
Saturday, November 4, 2023 | 5:18 PM

If seven is heaven, eight must be something spectacular.

One thing is for certain: What Penn-Trafford coach Cindy Dutt has produced as the field hockey coach is nothing short of remarkable.

The Warriors attack proved too much for Fox Chapel as Penn-Trafford won its eighth consecutive WPIAL Class 2A championship by a score of 4-0.

“I completely give all credit to the girls,” Dutt said. “We’ve got a lot of talent that is willing to share what they’ve learned with others. Credit also to my assistant coaches who make my life a little easier.”

As she has all year, Ava Hershberger got things going for the Warriors (18-2). Three and a half minutes in, she found the net on a penalty stroke to give top-seeded Penn-Trafford a 1-0 lead.

It didn’t take long for Hershberger to get her second as the midfielder received a well-placed pass in front of the net, turned and buried it to give the Warriors a 2-0 edge just before the close of the first quarter.

“We were hoping to come out strong, because last time we played them we only won 3-1,” Hershberger said. “I feel like getting ahead by two, it gives us a comfort zone, but not too comfortable where we can let off.”

Along with her two goals, Hershberger got an assist on the second of sophomore Liz Welsh’s two goals.

Just two and a half minutes into the fourth quarter, Hershberger received a feed from senior Mackenzie Keenan in the front of the net and shuffled it to Welsh, who buried it to seal the win.

“This exceptional team has seen incredible growth from the beginning of the season, where we lost to Mt. Lebanon, to where we are now,” Dutt said. “The dynamics improved throughout the season.”

Welsh scored her first goal on a similar penalty corner. Three and a half minutes into the third quarter, she deflected in a shot from the top of the circle from senior Keenan, giving the Warriors a 3-0 lead.

“Mackenzie just shot it, and I was able to get my stick on the ball and it went past the goalkeeper,” Welsh said.

Fox Chapel (12-7) had few opportunities as Penn-Trafford held possession for much of the contest, clogging midfield and not allowing the Foxes to do anything offensively.

“When they had the ball, we wanted to pressure them into mistakes as well as working on one-on-one tackling and cutting off any passes they might have had,” Dutt said.

“Our downfall today was that we didn’t have any attack,” Fox Chapel coach Emily Humiston said. “When we went on attack, they had so many players below the ball that we were numbers down.”

Even though the Foxes fell short of their goal, Humiston is proud of how hard her team worked to get to the finals.

“This team is all heart,” she said. “We don’t have Division 1 players like some other schools, but these girls put all that heart and effort into everything they do and that’s what makes them a great team.”

The Warriors will play the fourth-place team out of District 3 in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs on Tuesday.

Tags: Fox Chapel, Penn-Trafford