PITT COMMIT EMILY MCKEE SCORES TWICE, FOX CHAPEL EARNS 2-1 SECTION WIN OVER SHALER

Shaler's Zoey Cieslak, left, and Fox Chapel's Emily McKee, right, go for a loose ball Monday at Biles Field in Shaler. McKee won the ball and scored the game's first goal. McKee scored twice and Fox Chapel won 2-1. Josh Rizzo/Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges

SHALER TWP - Carlo Prati watched the Fox Chapel girls soccer team, with six new starters, go through the learning process together Monday night at Biles Field.

In the first half, Fox Chapel learned the importance of variety in the attack. During the second half of the Foxes' 2-1 Section 1-3A win over Shaler, Fox Chapel worked on situational awareness. The Foxes played the last 24 minutes down a player after Caylie Wilkinson was issued a straight red card for an aggressive foul.

Prati said after the match he was told Wilkinson had slapped a Shaler player on the follow through to an attempted tackle.

Prati was happy with how the Foxes (2-0, 1-0) handled things down the stretch. If anything, Prati was worried they were too aggressive. Emily McKee, who recently gave a verbal commitment to Pitt, scored both of the Foxes' goals.

"I thought they did really well," Prati said. "At times, I had to keep telling them to hold back a little bit because they wanted to attack. We wanted to try and play the ball in the corner and run out of here with a win."

Shaler (0-1, 0-1) was happy to see progress against Fox Chapel. The Titans made the WPIAL playoffs for the first time in four decades last season. During their two meetings with Fox Chapel, Shaler was outscored 10-2.

Naudia Zotter scored the Titans' goal Monday night to cut the deficit to one goal in the 70th minute. 

Titans coach Bill Ament watched the film of the second match with Fox Chapel last season -- a 5-1 defeat -- before the teams met again. What stood out to Ament was how his players had grown physically. Sophomore defender Lily Trgovic was one of the many players that stood out to Ament.

"They looked like little babies last year," Ament said. "Lilly Trgovic looked liked one of the smallest people on the field. She was ready to go (on Monday). We are bigger, faster and stronger than they were last year." 

Fox Chapel controlled most of the possession in the first half, but had a hard time generating chances. McKee created the spark in the 25th minute. She beat Shaler defender Zoey Cieslak in the race for a 50-50 ball. From there, McKee was able to get the ball inside the box and sneak a shot past Shaler keeper Paige Querio.

"I thought we did OK," Ament said. "We have a lot of the same girls from last year. We were hoping to be more competitive and thankfully we were. We made two mistakes and unfortunately it found Emily's foot both times. I can't say how proud I am of these girls. I've been waiting for this feeling when we go against elite competition and almost pull one off."

Fox Chapel wasn't able to generate much else in the attack during the first half. The Foxes would get the ball forward, but weren't able to get the last connecting pass to put the shots away.

"We were very predictable," Prati said. "I told them that at halftime, you can't be so predictable every time going to the same person over and over again, making the same runs. With six new starters, it's going to take time with them getting used to each other."

In the second half, McKee doubled Fox Chapel's lead on a shot from 25 yards out in the 58th minute. She launched the ball from outside the box into the top corner that went above the leaping Querio.

McKee nearly scored again in the 63rd minute, hitting a looping shot that bounced off the crossbar.

"In the pregame, she hammered one in the upper corner," Prati said. "I said 'Emily, let's see if we can do that tonight.' The second goal she scored was a laser. After that, she hit that one off the crossbar. She helped us for sure today."

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshrizzo.