Springdale girls soccer — it's a family affair

Kaylee Aikens felt a sense of déjà vu Thursday night.

Her younger sister, Springdale freshman soccer player Tessa Derringer, and her team won the WPIAL championship at Pittsburgh’s Highmark Stadium — a position Aikens was in 15 years ago.

“I got really emotional,” said Aikens of Center Township, Beaver County. “When I was in that position, she was in a stroller. It’s very surreal.”

The Derringer family of Cheswick is one of many family connections between this year’s Springdale girls soccer program and past WPIAL championship teams — the Dynamos won the girls soccer championship in 1996, 1997, 2009 and 2024. The team defeated Winchester Thurston, 5-3, on Thursday.

Coaches Marc Bentley and Makenna Krebs are husband and wife. Sophomore Cara Leahy’s mom, Kelli McGinty Leahy, played Springdale soccer and was on the 1996 and 1997 championship teams. Genevieve Conklin’s mom, Sarah Moorhead, played when the team won in 2004.

That’s not to mention the many sisters who have played.

In addition to the Derringers, current teammates include sisters Baileigh and Makenna Haas. Alumnae include current player Briana Ross’ older sister, Ashley; Carissa Walsh’s older sister, Isabella; Molly Hurley’s older sister, Bree; Lacey Shondeck’s older sisters, Hailey and Julia — Julia is an assistant girls soccer coach at Valley High School; and Kaitlyn Shock’s older sister, Miranda.

It’s even more impressive when you factor in the newness of Springdale’s girls soccer program, said Kelli Leahy, who was on the school’s first team in 1995.

“We very much had something to prove,” said Kelli Leahy, who lives in Springdale Township and works as a nurse at Renaissance Family Practice in Harmar. “We had a great run and, since then, the soccer program at Springdale has absolutely flourished. We have a very solid youth program here.”

It was exciting to win the WPIAL, Leahy said, and she’s proud her daughter had the same opportunity.

“She’ll remember this forever,” Leahy said. “Not everyone gets this as a memory.”

Leahy said she didn’t talk too much to Cara about the similarities between their high school soccer successes before the championship game Thursday, but family scrapbooks tell the story, she said. After the win, the mother and daughter “definitely talked,” Leahy said.

“It feels absolutely electric,” she said. “That’s when I get really excited.”

She also complimented the “incredible community support” from the Allegheny Valley community for this year’s championship run. Having it from a small, close-knit town makes the experience even more sentimental, Leahy said.

“It’s a really great community,” she said. “It’s small and familiar. There’s a lot of positives to that.”

Cara Leahy said side-by-side photos of her holding the WPIAL trophy and her mom holding her WPIAL trophy made the experience more surreal. She also liked learning more about the similarities between her mother’s experience and her own.

“Those two pictures side by side was cool because the trophies look the same,” Cara Leahy said.

Many teammates grew up playing soccer for the Harmar Soccer Club, like the Derringer sisters, who were coached by their father, Fred.

“It was something they both wanted to try,” Fred Derringer said. “Both of my girls took a liking to the sport and took off and ran with it.

“They both gravitated to the sport and got better and played at a higher level.”

Tessa Derringer has been on the soccer field since she was born, her father said. She was in a carrier when her sister’s team won in 2009. Fred Derringer remembers pushing Tessa’s stroller for Aikens’ soccer senior night.

Now, things came full-circle with Tessa winning 15 years after her sister. Despite the age difference, the sisters are close, Aikens said. She works as a nurse at UPMC Mercy in Downtown Pittsburgh and attends every Springdale game.

“She comes to me a lot for things,” Aikens said. “We’re very close.”

The 2024 team’s makeup and success reminds her a lot of the 2009 team. Each of the sisters was a freshman when their team won the WPIAL championship. They both played as strikers.

“I told her she had to play her game, and they did that and got it done,” Aikens said.

Tessa Derringer said she loved the opportunity to follow in her sister’s footsteps. She added that this year’s team isn’t done yet, as they have a state playoff game Tuesday at Fox Chapel Area High School.

She cherished playing at Highmark Stadium, the experience with her teammates and the community support Thursday night when the team arrived back to Springdale.

“It was something I’ll remember forever,” Tessa Derringer said.

Cara agrees that the sky’s the limit for this year’s team.

“Our team this year — we’re really close,” she said. “We have a really close and special bond. We’re all friends from soccer, and friends outside of school.”