Shady Side Academy shakes off slow start, earns playoff spot

By: Josh Rizzo
Saturday, October 11, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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The Shady Side Academy girls soccer team has been undermanned all season, but the Bulldogs have steadily improved after a five-match losing streak in September put them behind the curve.

Shady Side Academy (6-9, 4-6) bounced back with a few wins to climb into the mix for the WPIAL Class 2A postseason. More importantly, the Bulldogs felt they showed progress against tough opponents despite their small roster size.

Shady Side Academy dropped a pair of one-goal matches in its final two section matches. The Bulldogs lost to North Catholic, 1-0, and Burrell, 2-1. Sarah Kushnir scored for Shady Side Academy against Burrell.

When Shady Side Academy played those teams the first time around, the Bulldogs lost 3-0 to the Trojanettes 3-0 and 4-0 to the Bucs.

“We moved some players around in terms of where people were playing on the field,” coach Mary Lynch said. “After that, it was everyone working hard and getting the team to play together more and work on possessing the ball. I think our seniors have stepped up and provided leadership for us. A combination of things have helped.”

The Bulldogs suffered a major injury five matches into the season. Junior forward Reese Kearns, who was a key figure in the attack, was lost for the season with a knee injury.

Lynch said Shady Side Academy turned to its four seniors — Kushnir, Maria Ravotti, Virginia Powers and Ella Van Norman — to help carry the load.

“We did have a rough start, but we did get Sarah Kushnir back 100 percent from an injury, so we are getting better on offense,” Ravotti said. “We have hope, but we can’t afford to lose focus especially in the last minutes of games, and as a captain, I am trying to positively remind our new players to stay tough to fight in every minute in every possession. We were right there in these last games against Mt. Pleasant, Freeport, North Catholic and Burrell and we fell short late in the last two games.”

The Bulldogs started the season with 17 players. One of the benefits of not having a deep bench is that everyone got a crash course on conditioning.

“Because we don’t have a huge bench, the games themselves are where the girls are getting conditioned with every game,” Lynch said. “We are getting in good shape as we head into the playoffs.”

Shady Side Academy qualified for the postseason by finishing in fourth place in the section. The Bulldogs had one last nonsection match with Riverview scheduled before the WPIAL playoffs were set to get underway.

Lynch said how the team finished should help build some confidence heading into the playoffs.

“We’ll continue to take it one game at a time,” Lynch said. “We are excited to see who we have in the first round. I think having four seniors who have demonstrated great leadership this year, they have worked hard and brought the team along.”

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