WPIAL Class 1A champion Ellis School gaining PIAA ground
Tri-State Sports & News Service
It might not have seemed like much last week when Ellis School defeated District 5 champion Forbes Road, 2-1, in the opening round of the PIAA Class 1A field hockey playoffs.
In fact, it’s not uncommon for WPIAL teams to have their way with programs out of other districts in most sports.
Field hockey, though, isn’t most sports. In fact, it’s one of the few where the WPIAL has been pretty much outclassed for years.
Even more impressive, it was the first win for a WPIAL team in the state playoffs in any classification since 2011.
“This team had a lot of heart, but honestly it’s been a complete culture change since I got to Ellis. I think they just train hard and I think we’re trying to play a more eastern Pennsylvania style of play and we’re trying to get our name out there,” Ellis School coach Amanda Rose said. “There’s good caliber in every section, but I don’t think the play is much different because we played in all the different classes this year and I think it might help if we had more than just six teams.”
There are only 20 schools that boast field hockey squads in the WPIAL and just seven in Class 1A where Ellis School competes. The way the field is set up, four of those seven qualify for the WPIAL playoffs while all three Class 2A schools make it and four of the remaining 10 in Class 3A move on.
Over the past 20 years, no WPIAL team has ever made it into the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals and, several times, the District 7 champion has lost in a play-in game against thewinner of District 6.
Both Class 3A schools that qualified for the state playoffs, WPIAL champion PineRichland and runner-up North Allegheny, were eliminated in the first round by District 3 schools by a combined score of 10-0.
That disparity is difficult to overcome. Because there are so few programs, not enough girls are taking up the sport at a young age to develop the required skills, which means most pick up the game at the high school level and are at a distinct disadvantage when playing against powerhouse programs in other districts.
“We’re only going to get better if our section gets better,” Rose said. “If we can get better caliber, and that means more schools adapt and play field hockey and more teams will have clubs, we can have more clinics and can have all the things that eastern Pennsylvania has, but we just don’t have the numbers.”
And Ellis School has been one of the more dominant programs in the area. The Tigers have won four consecutive WPIAL titles, two in Class 2A and the past two in Class 1A after the sport was split into three classifications in 2016.
If any team has shown promise, it is Ellis School. Not only did the Tigers win a state playoff game, they nearly became the first WPIAL squad to make it into the semifinals before losing to District 3 runner-up Newport, 1-0, last week.
“I think the talent will be there next year and the training will be there because we have a lot of girls stepping up,” Rose said. “I think that’s going to be hard to replace in the senior leadership from the five girls we lose. We’ll have some good seniors coming up, but that caliber of leadership is really irreplaceable.”