Feature | By Earl Bugaile | Photos by Rebecca Bailey

New Faces, Lofty Goals

Years ago it was common practice for a young athlete to compete in two or even three different sports over the course of a year.

Football
There will be a new face along the sidelines this season at South Fayette High School. Joe Rossi becomes the school’s new head football coach, following five years as head coach at Riverview High School at Oakmont.

His goal is to improve the team’s 5-4 record from last season and to instill his coaching style on a new group of players. “I’m a player’s coach,” he said. “All summer long I tried to put my stamp on the program. I worked out with the kids and I want to instill philosophies of toughness and qualities of being a successful program.”

Rossi said it hasn’t been hard getting his players to buy into his program. “You try to build relationships with the players. I told them when I first met them that it’s not about wins and losses, but it’s about building relationships and instilling values. That’s most important.”

Rossi knows that returning players will be key to the success of the season. Included among them are offensive lineman Zach Patterson, kicker Drew Harza, running back Dylan Sowers, QB John Taglianetti, center Sam Taylor, linebacker Derek Anderson, middle lineman Brad Opar and Rich Kreush, a tackle and end. “There’s also a good crop of freshmen who had successful junior high seasons (that) we expect to step up and fill some holes for us,” he said.

The season ahead will present a new learning experience for Rossi, who will see many opponents for the first time.

“Seton LaSalle and Brentwood will have very good teams, but the league is very balanced and competitive,” Rossi said. “It’s a very similar kind of league where I came from, where the league produced the Class A champion.”

When discussing first-year expectations, Rossi sticks to the basics. “If we can get better and keep learning each day and each week we’ll go from there, and whatever happens, happens.”

Boys’ Soccer
Ron Eldridge will be the new man behind the bench this season for boys’ soccer at South Fayette with more than 20 years of experience in high school and college soccer with his most recent experience at Peters Township.

He inherits a solid team that finished as section champions and he looks ahead to his latest undertaking. “I think the unknown has a certain kind of appeal, and it poses challenges to both myself and my coaching staff,” he said.

Eldridge will be a coach that expects nothing less than the best from his players. His plan is to eliminate what he calls the factors that put the team behind its opponents early in the game. “We’re going to make sure that we’re fit and that we’re very organized and disciplined.”

Eldridge believes that success in South Fayette boys’ soccer will come by committee. “(We’ve) lost ten starters from last year’s team and we probably have one or two starters from last year who are returning,” he said. “The experience factor will be very limited, so I’ll be calling upon everybody within the program. I’m bringing a fresh approach to the program, and kids who did not play much last year could end up being starters this year.”

South Fayette will be competing with their traditional rivals in the Single A schedule, which include Seton-LaSalle and Greensburg Central Catholic, two teams that have been challenging in the past. It will also be the last season of Single A competition, since the team moves to a Double A schedule next season. Eldridge feels that there will be no room for anything but sound preparation.
“We’re going to prepare for every team like it’s a playoff environment,” he said. “My goal is to bring a championship attitude to South Fayette. I think at the end of the day we’ll be moving in the right direction.”

Girls’ Soccer
Wayne Capra will be beginning his third season as head girl’s soccer coach at South Fayette, and he knows the high expectations ahead after finishing last season at 17-2-1 and winning the section for the first time in the school’s history with an undefeated record. The team lost a hard-fought 1-0 decision to Burrell in the playoffs.

With last year’s season in mind, Capra has devised a schedule and plan to prepare the team for the post season. “I toughened up the schedule quite a bit,” he said. “I replaced most of the Double A teams that were non-section games and put Triple A teams in their place. They’re bigger schools with some pretty well-established programs. I did it to challenge our players and our team to get better.”

Capra and his staff have confidence in the team’s abilities and he said it is reflected in the support of the district. “(Superintendent) Dr. (Linda) Hippert has been one-hundred percent supportive of the program and what I’m trying to do. She and the school board and all of the administration have been very supportive of the program.”

Capra will look for leadership among his returning players. “We lost four players from last season, but we have enough depth that we can fill those spots and feel pretty comfortable with who we put on the field,” Capra said. Returning this season are captains Tracy Shero, a defender, and Brittany Troyer, a forward; Leah Panich, a mid-fielder; and Stephanie Kedzuf, a goaltender, all of whom are seniors. Underclassmen include, juniors Colleen Greaser, a defender; mid-fielders Hillary Ford and Alyssa Ingham; Sarah Wisniewski, a forward; and Ashley Schmeder.

“They should all be impact players this season,” said Capra, “But we have a whole group of younger players vying for positions. I think they’ll all see considerable playing time.”

Cheerleading
South Fayette’s athletic department makes certain to list cheerleading as part of its programs. It’s a commitment that is acknowledged and appreciated by the participants in the program.

“South Fayette has always been very supportive of the cheerleading program and to be under the athletic umbrella is just a best of both worlds,” said Renee McNally, who returns as coach after a three-year absence. “We have the protection of a wonderful athletic director (Joe Farkas), and we have the choice to have our tryouts when we want to and practice whenever we want to. It’s a benefit to the coaching staff to have administrators and an athletic director that are really behind your program.”

Aside from their participation in the school athletic events throughout the season, the cheerleaders will maintain their own schedule of competition through the season. They attended the Universal Cheerleading Association summer camp, which teaches collegiate-level stunting. The South Fayette team placed third in the end-of-the-camp competition.

“Girls can try out for football and basketball, or they can try out to cheer for just one of those sports,” McNally said. “Once they’re in the program they can try out for competition squad. We’ll be attending several competitions throughout the year.”

Comprising this season’s varsity cheerleading team will be: Alyssa Bazala, Gretchen Carr, Leigh Ann Clark, Brooke Courtad, Lauren Davis, Nicole Dellavecchia, LaKayla Desmet, Bethany Drake, Kala Gatalski, Nicole Hennemuth, Celina Mauti, Randi Moreau, Gen Sieckowski, Allison Supko and Macy Wauthier.

Cross Country
Cross Country will be a new WPIAL sport at South Fayette this season. After playing a non-competitive season last year, boys’ and girls’ cross country moves to the big time this fall, and head coach Doug Sauers says expectations are running high.

“Our registration is up and we have a lot more talent to pull from, and some are coming on board to get in shape for their regular sport,” he said. “I think our talent pool is going to be much better this year.

“At the top of the list will be the return of virtually all of last year’s runners,” he said. “Those kids are going to be our leaders and I look forward also to a decent, young, green team that will be very competitive.”

Leading the returning boys will be John Cochran and Max Morrow, and leading the girls will be Maria Yalsh and Jen Minster. Among new runners that Sauers expects big contributions from is Jessica Segelon, who returns following off-season foot surgery. “I think she is very talented and could be a big contributor as the season goes on,” he said.

As a first-year entry in league play, South Fayette will face traditional rivals, including West Allegheny, Burgettstown, Fort Cherry, South Park and Brentwood. They will also run in some key invitationals, including the Freedom Invitational, the Red White and Blue Invitational at Schenley, the Slippery Rock Invitational and the Grove City Invitational.

“I think the kids are a lot more excited this year because they know they are running for something, and it’s not exhibition,” Sauers said. “Being that this is the real deal, you’re going to see a difference. They’ve been working hard, and they are ready. I think we have a shot at the WPIAL championships and the states... I know in a few years we’re going to have a top-notch program.”

Boys’ Golf
If Joe Cochran approaches his job as head golf coach as a father takes care of his family, it’s for good reason.

Cochran founded the South Fayette program 13 seasons ago and he has continued as coach for every season since then. Last year, his team finished at 8-6 in sectional play. He looks for the team to pick up where it left off at season’s end.

Cochran has only lost one golfer from last season, and two players will return as seniors who show considerable promise for success. Brandon Uram and Ben McKee are the two who may be the keys to the overall success of the season and will be joined by Justin DeFerie and Garrett Vidak

Cochran is high on the opportunities that lie ahead this season. “I am really looking forward to this team because last year we were inexperienced,” he said. “Last year was kind of a rebuilding year for us after going through a four-year run of being undefeated and winning the WPIAL championship. This year we have eleven of our twelve golfers coming back, and I’m excited.”

Cochran even believes that his group this season can make another run at the WPIAL championship. The players and player hopefuls obviously believe it as well. Over 35 golfers came out for spots on this year’s team, which is also encouraging for the impact the program has had on South Fayette students and athletes. “It’s the biggest turn-out I have ever had,” Cochran said.

Cochran knows that the biggest rivalry and competition will come from Burgettstown, a member of the same section who has also dominated in terms of winning titles. “From 1998 through 2002, Burgettstown won the WPIAL championship, and from 2003 to 2006, it was South Fayette. They are going to be the team to beat in our section again,” he said.

Cochran has encouraged his team to keep playing as often as possible as the true formula for success. “You have to be out on the range or on the course practicing all of the time. It’s one of the things I emphasize.”

Girls’ Volleyball
After completing the best season in the history of the program where the team advanced to the first round of the state playoffs, head coach Scott Sundgren is aware of the optimism surrounding the girl’s volleyball program. “It does set the stage for this year, but we lost two key hitters and one of my defensive specialists, and it will be tough to fill those positions,” he said. “But we’re coming back with a strong center, and we’ll fill the rest of the positions around her.”

Sundgren is referring to Amy Barry, who will be a senior, and is expected to be the team’s acknowledged leader.

Sundgren is beginning his ninth season with South Fayette volleyball and his sixth as a head coach, and he feels that his team continues to have a great deal of potential. “There’s still a lot of versatility left. We have a lot of good players, and there’s a lot of potential for others to come to the forefront,” he said.

Despite the fact that Sundgren will be attempting to find the winning combination of players as the season goes on, the very fact that the team has had a taste of winning in the past will go a long way in providing a source of inspiration for this season.

“I think once you get a taste for what the playoffs are like, you want to go back. It just makes you all the more hungry for performing that well again,” he said.