Emily McKee never stopped scoring. The Fox Chapel girls soccer standout used her talent to make her senior season one to remember.
McKee scored 49 goals, bringing her career total to 108, to close an interesting chapter for the Foxes. McKee, who was named the Moe Rosenteel Outstanding Player of the Year and the Valley New Dispatch Player of the Year, was only part of the accolades Fox Chapel accrued.
The Foxes sent coach Carlo Prati — who left to take the job at Shaler — off on a high note, winning the program’s second WPIAL title in three seasons with an overtime victory over South Fayette.
Prati finished with a 61-19-6 record leading the Foxes, including a 20-2-1 last fall.
The Foxes saw a lot of notable accomplishments over the past year. Here’s a look at a handful that stood out.
Seventh heaven
Sean Regan’s penalty kick in the fifth round of the shootout allowed Fox Chapel to repeat as the WPIAL’s’ Class 4A champions. The Foxes won their seventh WPIAL title despite heavy resistance from Seneca Valley, which also lost a pair of close games to Fox Chapel in the regular season.
In the WPIAL title game, both teams failed to score in regulation and overtime.
Kicking down the door
The Fox Chapel field hockey team was no longer next year’s champion. After losing four times — in 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024 — in the final, Fox Chapel broke through with a 2-0 win over Peters Township.
Melanie Pietz and Catelyn Pastoor scored in the championship game.
Reaching states
The Foxes’ girls cross country team won its first section title since 2023. Fox Chapel built that into a run to the PIAA Class 3A championships. The Foxes were the third-highest placing WPIAL entry, taking eighth as a team.
Freshman Claire Loludice was the Foxes’ top finisher, placing 19th with a time of 20 minutes, 5 seconds.
Zureikat breaks record
Fox Chapel kicker Harran Zureikat, a Georgia commit, gave the football program something to crow about. He made a 57-yard field goal against Franklin Regional to set a WPIAL record.
Zureikat’s boot broke the mark of 55 yards that originally was set by East Allegheny’s Josh Miller in 2002.
Swimmers grab gold
A pair of Fox Chapel freshmen stood out at the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships. Ellie Lange and Delaney O’Toole captured individual crowns and were members of the 200-yard medley relay team that finished first.
Lange won the 200 IM with a time of 2:03.33 and O’Toole won the 50 free in 22.97 seconds. O’Toole and Lange then teamed with Cameryn Brindza and Josie Stanczak to win gold in the relay. O’Toole added another individual gold in the 100 back and teamed with Lange, Nico Ressler and Charlotte Rusche to win the 200 medley relay.
O’Toole also won the PIAA championship in the 100 back.
Girls basketball back to states
The Foxes’ girls basketball team ran off seven consecutive wins, culminating with a narrow 60-58 victory over Latrobe in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs that clinched a bid for the state tournament for the first time in five years.
That allowed the Foxes (15-12) to return to the state playoffs for the first time in five years where they lost to York Suburban. Lyla Jablon went over 1,000 points for her career.
Boys lacrosse wins section
The Foxes would have liked to make it to states, but Fox Chapel showed plenty of might this season. The Foxes beat Shady Side Academy in the regular season on an overtime goal by Tucker Cullen to win the section for the first time.
Girls lacrosse in PIAA field
The Foxes fought their way into the state tournament. They beat Upper St. Clair in the third-place game to punch their ticket to the PIAA Class 3A bracket.
Relay team grabs medal
Fox Chapel’s 3,200-meter relay team turned in a strong race at the PIAA Class 3A track championships at Shippensburg University. The team was seeded 19th but ran a time of 9:26.80 to place eighth.
Marin Airik ran in place of regular runner Sydney Kimmons, who was out because of an injury. Bridget Hemingray, Ella Shevchuk and Loludice also were part of the relay team.