Fox Chapel ends the field hockey reign of eight-time defending WPIAL champion Penn-Trafford

From:

Ted Sarneso

Wednesday, October 23, 2024 | 9:39 p.m

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With four minutes left in a tense tie, Fox Chapel sophomore forward Emma Srodes moved the ball through the Penn-Trafford zone on a change of possession and fired a shot from 10 yards.

“We practiced this shot a lot in training, the shot when I bring the ball to the far left post,” said Srodes. “I’m so happy that all the training paid off and the shot went well.”

Srodes’ shot looked like it would be deflected by teammate Melanie Pietz, but she let it go and the ball trickled past Warrior goalkeeper Leah Vislosky.

“It’s not easy to score in the last few minutes to avoid overtime, but they worked hard to get it done,” Fox Chapel coach Kellee Cribby said.

Fox Chapel defeated Penn-Trafford 2-1 in the semifinals of the WPIAL Class 2A field hockey playoffs on Wednesday night. The result ended Penn-Trafford’s streak of eight consecutive WPIAL championships.

“They are very competitive and we battled against each other all year long, so it was fitting that we competed against each other in the playoffs,” Cribby said. “Of course we are super happy about the win.”

Fox Chapel and Penn-Trafford have had their struggles this season. They faced each other three times in the Class 2A regular season and each team won a battle by a score of 2-0. In the third game they ended in a 0-0 draw.

“Tonight was a very tough loss for our girls,” Penn Trafford coach Cindy Dutt said. “We lost our last two games against Fox Chapel in the last five minutes and controlled both games. It’s a terrible loss.”

The Warriors had control of the ball for most of the first half and created more chances, but just couldn’t capitalize on them.

“In my opinion, they didn’t do much to slow down our attack in the first half,” Dutt said. “I felt like we were able to move the ball really well. They clumped together, so we had what we wanted.”

Penn-Trafford’s first real chance came four minutes into the second period when they were awarded a penalty corner.

The ball landed to junior Elizabeth Welsh, who fired a rocket toward the net. The Warriors tried the ball a few more times from deep but were stopped by Foxes goalkeeper Gina Fitzsimmons.

Fox Chapel was whistled for a penalty kick in the circle and Penn-Trafford received a penalty stroke. Welsh took the shot and shot low to the right, and Fitzsimmons parried nicely with the left pad.

The game remained goalless until Srodes fired a shot from the right front that was too hot for Vislosky.

“The passing game was so good and I got the ball in the middle and tried for a corner,” said Srodes. “It felt so good when the shot went in.”

But the Penn-Trafford Welshman responded straight back with a rising shot that went down the right side from eight yards out.

As the third quarter ended, the Warriors had another penalty corner. The ball fell to senior Rilie Moors, who beat two defenders and made a pass to the left to Welsh, who fired a ball toward the net. Fitzsimmons found it in traffic and threw it away, causing damage.

“We had three or four penalty corners and normally we get more penalty corners in a game but we just couldn’t finish them,” Dutt said.

Freshman Brooke Bauer had a chance to give the Wariorrs the lead when she fired a spin shot three minutes into the fourth round, but she was stopped by Fitzsimmons, who made a terrific save, this time with her left toe.

“I knew it was going to be a fight, but the girls were really focused,” Cribby said. “Really prepared and I could tell they wanted it. I’m glad we did it.”

The Foxes will face the winner of Thursday night’s contest between top-seeded Peters Township and No. 4 Latrobe in the WPIAL championship game on Nov. 2 at Washington & Jefferson.

“Peters is the No. 1 guy on this side and anything can happen in a playoff game,” Cribby said. “But I expect it will be really competitive and there will be a lot of good field hockey to see, and I always tell the girls that it’s not going to be given to them; You have to earn it.”

Tags: Fox Chapel, Penn-Trafford