The Fox Chapel Area field hockey team was on the precipice of a championship in 2023, advancing all the way to the Class 2A title game before falling to Penn-Trafford. A program that has captured six WPIAL championships in its history would like to return to the sport’s top spot after runner-up finishes in 2020 and 2021, in addition to last season.
Kellee Cribby, who also serves as the girls lacrosse coach, takes over the field hockey program this season.
“I’m excited,” coach Cribby said. “I think it’s a really great group of players. We have a lot of great leadership in our senior class, which is awesome. I think the girls are really excited for the season to pick up where they left off and build on all of the momentum they built last year. It’s always tough when you’re the new coach, but they’re a great bunch, and we’re really excited to play. We have a good chunk of upperclassmen who feel confident knowing what the varsity level looks like. They’ve been able to play nervous, and play through it. That’s a great skill to rely on.”
The Foxes jumped right into the fire this season with a grueling first week that featured games against North Allegheny, Norwin, and Upper St. Clair within four days.
Advancing to the championship game last season – but not winning it – just might serve as a motivational tool for the Foxes in 2024.
“I think it definitely is, especially for the upperclassmen who have been in that situation a couple of times,” coach Cribby said. “They are definitely eager to change how it ends this season.”
It is a solid, veteran roster that coach Cribby has at her disposal, with a trio of seniors key to the defense – Amanda Sokol, Ridglee Boychuk and Ava Persichetti.
Of course, a key to any field hockey team’s defense is the person in the net. Another senior, Gina Fitzsimmons, returns to handle the goalkeeper position.
“She’s great,” coach Cribby said of Gina. “She’ll be super valuable, as most goalkeepers are. She’s super level-headed. Her temperament is just amazing. Obviously, being the goalie is not an easy job, especially when you see the hockey ball. It’s hard, and they wail it at you. She seems just calm, cool, and collected back there. That sets the tone for the rest of the defense.”
Other key players are senior midfielder Kennedy Murton and senior forward Anna Mohn, and junior forwards Emma Srodes and Brooke Thiele. Emma and junior defender Katie Siddons were first-team, All-WPIAL in 2023.
Even though this is coach Cribby’s first year at the helm of the field hockey program, she is not a stranger to many of the girls, since some of them are members of the lacrosse team.
“It’s nice because there’s a chunk of girls that I have an understanding of what motivates them, how they like to be coached, what’s helpful to them,” she said. “The ones I don’t know, I have more time to figure that out. That’s been nice.”
She’s also not a stranger to the sport, playing for a state championship team at York High School in Maine in her younger days.
Coach Cribby said tough competition will come from many of the teams on the Foxes’ schedule, as a realignment put the defending champion Penn-Trafford in the same section as Fox Chapel Area.
But coach Cribby focuses her attention on her team.
“I focus on my team and what we can control,” she said. “I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about the other team. I’m more worried about what we’re doing.”
As for what the Foxes will be doing, Cribby said there are certain keys to another successful field hockey campaign.
“Being able to move the ball with a purpose is going to be really important for us, getting it out of the defensive end and into the attacking end,” she said. “Obviously, getting the ball in the back of the net is also very important. You have to be able to score if you want to win. We’re working on that a lot, making sure we have lots of opportunities to get the ball in the back of the goal.”