Penn Hills senior midfielder Kari Holt easily found solace after the Indians battled through the rain in a 4-0 loss last Wednesday to Section 3-3A foe Plum.

The Indians were playing with a roster only featuring three substitutes. Plum, which is off to a 7-0 start and has played in the last two WPIAL Class 3A title games, has a deep roster that has outscored its opponents 45-2.

After opening section play with two wins over Brashear and Obama Academy, Penn Hills entered into a stretch playing against the three teams above them in the standings.

The Indians tied Oakland Catholic before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Jaguars and losing to the Mustangs.

“I think the games we had before were the preparation for what we knew were going to be the hardest games in the section,” Holt said. “We went into those not taking the team for granted so we could prepare and be ready. Both of the games (the losses to Thomas Jefferson and Plum) we allowed four goals. In the past it was 9, 10, 11. We prepared well.”

Penn Hills was scheduled to play Thomas Jefferson again Saturday to finish a difficult stretch of the schedule.

Indians defender Kali Booker is one of many Penn Hills players that take on several roles. Booker said the Indians have been focused on staying positive.

“We just need to play our game and have confidence,” Booker said. “We doubt ourselves too much when we are doing well.”

After playing primarily underclassmen last season, Indians coach Ashley Devito can point to tangible improvement from those players gaining experience.

Penn Hills (3-3-1, 2-2-1) had a plus-3 goal differential entering the second game against the Jaguars.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled,” Devito said. “It’s not only that they are the more competitive team in the section, they have 40 kids on the roster. On my best day, with the most players I have, I have 17. We are midway through the season now. Fatigue and injuries are setting in. It’s not just teams at the highest level. We are playing kids that can rest their kids more. These are the best results I’ve gotten against the best teams in the section.”

Getting the best out of the team has Devito and her assistant coach making deliberate decisions during practices and games. There are rest days built into the schedule, and they encourage players to ask for breaks when they need to come out to preserve energy.

Caroline McDevitt, who leads Penn Hills in scoring, says being smart with training is something everyone is cognizant of.

“You have to play smart and not waste your energy all the time,” McDevitt said. “You have to play carefully so you don’t get hurt, take a lot of breaks, stretch and drink a lot of water.”

Penn Hills has set itself up for a second straight WPIAL playoff berth thanks to its strong start in section play.

The Indians got through the difficult part of their schedule with their resolve intact.

“I think it’s tough because it can knock your confidence down sometimes,” McDevitt said. “We’re strong and we know how good we are and we know that we can be competitive against them. I think we’ll have a good fight against all of them.”

Article by Josh Rizzo 9.26.2021

https://tribhssn.triblive.com/penn-hills-girls-soccer-squad-stays-strong-during-toughest-stretch-of-schedule/

Inexperience has made the early season difficult for the Penn Hills girls soccer team. The Indians had to drop right into the snakepit that is WPIAL Section 3-3A play without any nonsection games to warm up.

The Indians, who lost 7-0 to three-time defending WPIAL runner-up Plum on Wednesday night at Nate Ferraco Field, have started the season 1-7 overall and 0-5 in section.

Penn Hills’ lone victory came in a 6-1 win over McKeesport Sept. 1 on the road. The Indians have 15 players on the team.

Penn Hills is routinely playing five freshmen, eight juniors and two sophomores.

“I think they’ve handled the transition and adversity of playing the top teams in the section well,” first-year Indians coach Myron Cook. “We know our strengths and weaknesses well. For us, it’s about the girls having confidence in each other and in themselves.”

Penn Hills didn’t catch a break in the section realignment. The Indians were joined in the section by perennial contenders Franklin Regional, Penn-Trafford and Latrobe.

Penn Hills has seen a lot of players step into key roles this season. Maliah Powell, Paris Blair, Kaidyn Thomas, Sarah Gamza and Mckenna Carricato have all had successful seasons playing in different roles.

“These girls are learning on the job,” Cook said. “We have a young team that doesn’t have the experience of the other teams we are playing. We want to continue to get these girls on the team experience and get them to do things we need to be successful. They will learn playing against these teams with more players with experience who are older.”

Penn Hills will have a long climb back into the playoff race. In the Indians’ section games so far this season, Penn Hills has been outscored 32-2. The Indians played their closet section game, a 2-1 home loss to Greensburg Salem, Sept. 7.

“We have a lot of girls who were in backup roles last season and have been asked to step up,” Cook said. “We also have a lot of players who have different responsibilities for us this season. We have a youthful team. We just need to learn from our experiences.”

Article by Josh Rizzo 9.18.2022

https://tribhssn.triblive.com/penn-hills-notebook-girls-soccer-team-learning-on-job/