With top players back, Sewickley Academy girls soccer looks for 3rd straight playoff berth

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, August 25, 2024 | 11:01 AM

The Sewickley Academy girls soccer team is aiming for a trifecta in 2024.

The Panthers are looking to land in the WPIAL playoffs for a third consecutive season and for the fourth time in five years.

Sewickley is led by a new face to the program as Gary Weber has taken over for Dale Giovengo as coach.

But a familiar player is Katherine Varghese, a senior forward who racked up a team-high 25 goals last season. Varghese has scored 44 goals in her three seasons of varsity competition.

“I expect our team to be successful this year. We expect to place well in our section and advance on to playoffs,” Varghese said. “We are working hard to make it to playoffs and are set on advancing past the first round.

“Our new coach has worked very hard to assess each player’s personal strengths and weaknesses and to put them in a position that is the most suitable for our team. I think our technical ability as well as our movement off the ball will aid our successes this year.”

Sewickley won four of its first six regular-season games in 2023 and three of its final five before losing to sixth-seeded Springdale in the first round of the playoffs.

The Panthers earned the No. 11 seed for the playoffs by finishing third in Section 3-A with a 6-4 record behind Eden Christian Academy (7-3) and Freedom (10-0), last year’s WPIAL Class A champion.

With only one senior on the team, Sewickley ended up 7-8 overall. The Panthers outscored the opposition 67-43 in the regular season and section opponents by a 46-25 margin.

One of the team’s highlights was a three-game stretch against Bishop Canevin, Riverside and Mohawk when SA won by 12-0, 9-0 and 10-0 scores.

Varghese, an all-WPIAL selection, had a career-best five-goal performance against South Side a year ago.

“I think overall, I was content with our team’s performance throughout the season,” Varghese said. “As a young team, we adjusted well, and I was impressed with the effort our younger players put in.

“We will continue to grow and improve as a unit.”

Varghese was expected to be joined in Sewickley’s early season lineup by forward Makenzie Dice, center midfielders Emma Eannarino and Olivia Stefanik, wingers Grace Jardini and Marin Edmunds and defenders Quincy Sirko, Emilia Carrabba, Isabella Ballard and Josie Courtney.

Senior Marie Bigi is the starter at the goalkeeper position again this season.

“I was apprehensive early in the (2023) season since there would be such significant changes to our lineup,” Sirko said. “I was concerned with the dynamic of the team as well. However, as a new and very young team, we developed great chemistry and understanding of one another.”

Despite having only one senior on last year’s squad, the Panthers are still young this year with Varghese, Sirko and Bigi the only seniors in the lineup.

Dice, Edmunds and Ballard are juniors while Eannarino, Stefanik, Jardini, Carrabba and Courtney are sophomores.

Rounding out the list of players in the program this year are senior Jade Rychel, junior Raneem Wahdan, sophomores Nalani Brayley and Mya Spadafore and freshmen Gabrielle Edmunds, Isabela Lima and Renae Phillip-Knight.

Sirko, who started at forward last season and scored 15 goals, Varghese, who netted 14 goals as a sophomore and five as a freshman, and Bigi were voted to the all-section team.

Varghese has embraced the additions to the Sewickley athletic department’s brain trust.

“(Athletic director) Mike Scerbo has been an invaluable asset,” Varghese said. “He has developed a program where players are challenged to bring their best effort both on and off the field.

“Additionally, coach Weber is extremely knowledgeable about the game. His practices constantly push us to become to the best versions of ourselves.”

Varghese and Sirko are serving as co-captains again this season.

Tags: Sewickley Academy