Shady Side Academy girls soccer leaning on strong senior captains, promising young talent

By: Josh Rizzo
Saturday, August 30, 2025 | 11:01 AM

The Shady Side Academy girls soccer team is managing a roster that isn’t the deepest in program history. The Bulldogs have 17 players, and coach Mary Lynch will be faced with the task of make sure everyone can get some rest.

The roster limitations haven’t hampered what the Bulldogs believe they can accomplish this season.

“We want to return to the playoffs,” Lynch said. “It’s about getting the girls to work together, trust one another and play more together. We have to stay healthy and in shape.”

Shady Side Academy opened the season with a 3-1 loss to Fox Chapel. The Foxes were the WPIAL Class 3A runner-up last season.

The Bulldogs (0-1) were working hard to try to control the Foxes’ offensive attack. Shady Side Academy keeper Maria Ravotti, a Providence commit, made 24 saves.

“It’s one of my favorite games to play,” Ravotti said. “We always play them as our first official game of the season. It’s one of our most challenging games. It gets out team prepared. It showed us if we are going to be a good team this year if we can compete with a much bigger school.”

Ravotti is one of four senior captains along with Ella Van Norman, Sarah Kushnir and Virginia Powers.

Last season, the Bulldogs finished 6-10-1 and were bounced by Beaver in the first round of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs.

“We have some really strong seniors returning,” Lynch said. “We graduated seven seniors from last year’s team. We knew we were going to have to rely on freshmen and younger players stepping up.”

Ravotti said that the new players have done a good job of filling in, especially on the back line. Shady Side Academy has a pair of freshman center backs.

“They are doing a good job,” Ravotti said. “They understand the team culture. Communication has been important. I try to talk to them so they understand how I play and my tendencies, when I will come out for a ball or if they need to clear it.”

Lynch said she is still looking at the best way to manage the team’s lineup. Shady Side Academy tries to make the best out of practices, despite not having enough players for a full scrimmage.

“Everyone has to be ready to play on any given night,” Lynch said. “We will still try to make things competitive in practice and make sure all the players will get touches on the ball. They are going up against one of the best goalies in the WPIAL in Maria.”

Tags: Shady Side Academy