For the past four years, Ellis School came into the season with a title to defend.
Not this time.
Now the Tigers are in the somewhat unfamiliar position of being the challenger, after they lost to Shady Side Academy in last year’s WPIAL Class 1A final.
“I wouldn’t say that we’re not going to still train the same and have the same mentality,” Ellis School coach Amanda Rose said. “I think we’ve always been the underdog going into that game and now it’s like we’re the real underdogs, but it’s definitely a different feeling working to get the title back versus just trying to retain it for another year.”
Ellis School and Shady Side Academy have been battling for the WPIAL title in their classification for the last five years, twice in Class 2A and the past three in Class 1A. The two have met in the postseason each of the past six seasons, with the Tigers holding a 4-2 edge in the series. One of the two teams has won a WPIAL title each of the past 16 years.
If Ellis School is to reclaim the crown, it will need another standout season from Teagan Poerio, who was the only WPIAL player named to the all-state team by the Pa. High School Field Hockey Coaches’ Association in 2018. The junior attacker is courting several Division I offers, but has not released a final list.
“She’s bringing her experience of the game and her knowledge and I’ve tapped Teagan an awful lot to lead by example more than actual words,” Rose said. “She’s a very quiet person, but she has very strong leadership skills because of how good she is. So, she just leads by example, which is nice.”
And she’ll need to be that kind of leader. This may be the youngest Tigers team in quite a while and will feature four freshman starters.
“I have 11 freshmen, which is the biggest class I’ve ever had,” Rose said. “There’s a lot of potential and a lot of drive and it’s nice. We have 11 players who are skilled, but now we have to mold them into one unit.”
Norwin
Over the past few years, Norwin has been quietly moving up the ranks as a field hockey team to contend with.
In 2017, the Knights tied North Allegheny for second place in their section, but lost out on a postseason bid because of goal differential (2-1) in their two meetings with the Tigers. Last season, though, Norwin broke through and made it into the tournament, where it lost, 1-0, to eventual champion Peters Township.
This season, even with a new coach, the team’s eye is once again qualifying for the postseason.
“That’s the goal and nothing’s really changed,” Norwin coach Will Kelly said. “I’ve been following it for a couple of years. My daughter (senior goalkeeper Bailee) is on the team and I’ve been with them every step of the way and we’re going to do the best we can do with what we have.”
Though Kelly has coached other sports, he admits to only having a layman’s knowledge of field hockey. That being said, he’s not averse to deferring to his assistant, Kelly Quealy, who played in high school at Fairfield and was a Division I player at St. Francis (Pa.).
“It’s a little different and I rely heavily on my assistant because she played at the Division I level,” Kelly said. “But coaching kids is the same across the board. Learning the rules and the strategies of field hockey are the only things I have to catch up on.”
First Published: September 13, 2019, 10:00 a.m.
