USC girls’ soccer recognized nationally
Upper St. Clair team captains Maddy Rocks and Elaina Walnoha accept the national ranking trophy presented by the Army National Guard in recognition of the 11th annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions. The Panthers won the PIAA title and finished ranked No. 33 in the nation.
The Upper St. Clair High School girls’ soccer team pose with the trophy awarded for ranking 33rd in the country after a state championship season.
Upper St. Clair High School was presented with the Army National Guard national ranking trophy recently. The honor is part of the 11th annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Guard, which is in its fifth year recognizing soccer. USC is one of just ten girls’ soccer programs being honored.
The Lady Panthers finished ranked No. 33 in the country by MaxPreps. The online sports website ranks more than 9,000 high school girls’ soccer teams.
“For more than a decade, MaxPreps, in partnership with the Army National Guard, has honored the top high school sports teams in the nation. Upper St. Clair High School is one of a select and elite group of soccer teams to be honored this season,” said Andy Beal, president and founder of MaxPreps. “We congratulate the coach, players and the community for earning the national ranking trophy.”
The Lady Panthers beat Central Bucks East, 2-1, in the PIAA Class AAA girls’ soccer championship for their first state title. They finished the 2015 season with a record of 20-2-1.
“This honor is tremendously humbling and very exciting,” said head coach Dave Gray. “This team will forever be linked together because of what they accomplished this year.”
The team has made it far in the post season previous years (WPIAL semifinalist in 2013 and district quarterfinalist in 2014). This year, howver, the Lady Panthers were able to convert their experience into a state title. Gray credited the team’s eight seniors and their leadership as an important catalyst in this season’s success. For example, during a match against Canon-McMillan, the Lady Panthers fell behind by three goals with 30 minutes left in the game, but fought back to tie the game, 3-3, in double overtime. Gray said the team showed great composure and resilience when they completely changed the trajectory of that match. “From that point on, we knew we were ready for the playoffs and would be a major contender.”
USC has several seniors who will continue playing in college. Emma Hasco, who scored both goals in the state finals, is currently enrolled at Penn State University. Maddy Rocks will attend Johns Hopkins University in the fall. Elaina Walnoha will play at Cleveland State University. Brianna Murgi will play at Wheeling Jesuit University (WV).
Sergeant First Class Regis P. Thornton of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard presented Gray and the Lady Panthers with the national ranking trophy.
“Courage, commitment and unity are just a few qualities that superior athletes, along with the men and women of the Army National Guard, have in common,” said Sergeant First Class Michael Semeja of the Army National Guard. “On behalf of the National Guard, I am privileged to recognize this nationally-ranked championship team for their dedication, leadership and teamwork.”
MaxPreps uses an intricate computer program to determine team rank. Prior season history, school size and comments on message boards are not considered. The computer-based system utilizes game results stored in the MaxPreps database. Generally, the more a team wins the higher the ranking, but the system also takes into account quality wins (against other highly-ranked opponents) and strength of schedule.