This season, the Shaler Area Girls Soccer team broke out in a way that not many teams could. The Titans had one of the program’s best seasons resulting in their first WPIAL playoff appearance in more than 30 years.
“It felt good to break the streak,” head coach Mr. Bill Ament said. “The girls worked hard to make that happen.”
Ament led a team that was one of the youngest teams in the WPIAL. While most varsity teams tend to be filled with seniors and juniors, this year’s Shaler team was the opposite of that.
“That’s the great thing about this team and what we did this year,” Ament said. “We are so young and talented. Varsity used two seniors, three juniors, six sophomores, and four freshmen. Replacing the two seniors is not going to be easy, but we have some great kids behind them.”
While they were young, many players performed like seasoned veterans. The team’s leaders in goals, Naudia Zotter and Gabby Alcalde, were both sophomores. Each found the back of the net 10 times over the course of the season.
Zotter and Alcalde also led the team in total points, with 24 and 19 respectively. Other standout performers included Lia Wallander with 8 goals, Melina Poliziani with 5 goals, and Addy Paladin with 9 points.
“I know Zotter, Alcalde, and Paladin are going to have breakout years next year,” Ament said. “Each of them has grown so much over the last two seasons.”
The team will have goal scoring threats next year, but the defense is expected to be just as strong.
“Defensively we will be solid and dangerous with a ton of speed from our fullbacks Lily Trgovic and Allie Cieslak,” Ament said.
With such a young team this year, many players were able to gain valuable experience on varsity. As a result, the Titans will have a lot of experienced leaders moving forward.
“Our biggest strength will be our senior leadership,” Ament said. “Zoey Cieslak, Nat Evangelista, and Caroline Decheck will all be 4-year starters as seniors and will be solid all year.”
This season marked a serious change for the Titans. Outside of the 37-year playoff drought, the team had not had a winning record since 2011, and only won 8 games from 2018 to 2021. This year, however, the results were different.
The team was on the hunt for a playoff spot all season, but their hopes eventually came down to just one game at the end of the year. As they traveled to Gateway, the Titans were faced with a tough task, but one the team was up for.
“The biggest moment would have to be the last game against Gateway,” Ament said. “The winner of the game was going to make the playoffs and you could tell the girls wanted that. They played the best game they had all year and won 3-0, putting us in the playoffs for the first time in 37 years.”
Going into the playoffs as the thirteenth seed in 3A, the Titans were bound to draw a tough matchup in the first round. They ended up playing Plum, a section champ, in a tough road game. While the game ended with a Titans loss, it proved to be a lesson for the young team as they look to move towards their goal of a championship.
“I told them to be happy that we did it, but not to be satisfied with just making it in,” Ament said. “We need to learn from what worked and what didn’t and take the next step to becoming contenders for the title.”
