Shaler girls soccer looking to future after pair of positive late-season results

By: Josh Rizzo
Saturday, October 24, 2020 | 11:01 AM

The back half of Section 1-4A play didn’t go how Shaler Area girls soccer coach Craig Wilkins hoped it would go.

The Titans were outscored 42-4 over their final five section games, including a 6-0 season-ending loss to Seneca Valley on Oct. 19 at home. But Wilkins was encouraged by what happened when Shaler got a break from playing against teams in its hypercompetitive section.

The Titans (3-9-1, 1-9) beat Deer Lakes, 4-1, before rallying from a 3-1 halftime deficit to tie Chartiers Valley, 4-4.

“The win and the tie at the end were big for us,” Wilkins said. “It shows character and that we can play hard against those teams. We played a lot of our younger players, and it was a good step for them. We want to build off those games and use it to compete with section teams.”

Freshman Lexi Tylenda scored four goals against the Colts and led Shaler in scoring this season with 10 goals. Alyssa DeLeonibus, Ashley Venezia and Tylenda scored in the win over Deer Lakes.

Wilkins said moving forward, the Titans will be working on their strength and conditioning program. Playing a number of underclassmen left Shaler in tough spots in section play.

“We need to be tougher physically,” Wilkins said. “We can get physically outplayed because we are a little smaller in some places. The raw athleticism of the teams in our section is pretty intense. It’s not just the skill and competitive level. It’s also about being ready to play.”

Shaler will lose five seniors — Audre Fisher, Emily Moorey, Selena Slavicek, DeLeonius and Venezia — to graduation.

The Titans will be looking to build off of a core of nine sophomores and 11 juniors. Wilkins doesn’t believe players are intimidated by playing in one of the WPIAL’s toughest sections.

“I think the key is our players who play club are already playing against those players in the offseason,” Wilkins said. “They know what the standard is. We need to keep building the program to have the depth of players and that level of experience at the high school level.”

Tags: Shaler