North Allegheny girls' soccer coach Chet Gapczynski has been waiting for this season.

This is the year when the combination of a talented group of juniors, the first to work through Gapczynski's feeder system at North Allegheny, and a tight-knit group of seniors have played for the Tigers. The preseason expectations included earning a WPIAL playoff berth.

So far the expectations have been met. After defeating Butler Area, 2-1, Wednesday night, North Allegheny was 13-3 overall, 10-3 in Section 2-AAA with a playoff spot locked up. The Tigers gave section champ Seneca Valley its only section loss, a 3-2 overtme victory.

Gapczynski came to North Allegheny when the current group of juniors was in sixth grade. He helped put together a feeder program for that group. Gapczynski runs youth soccer clinics and helped get his players on cup teams.

"We were building and building that up, and we built a decent program with the team we had," Gapczynski said.

"I knew with the current junior class, we would start a wave of six or seven very strong players in each age group afterward. I thought this year would definitely be twice as good as last year. We just needed to get to the playoffs and gain some experience."

North Allegheny did get to the playoffs last season. The Tigers ended 9-10-3 overall, 5-6-1 in the section, but still reached the postseason where they lost, 3-0, to Mt. Lebanon.

Senior Dawn Murphy has been the leader of the team and one of the top performers. She starts as a center-midfielder but Gapczynski gives her the freedom to move around as she reads the play. Senior Molly Antimarino has been having a big season playing on the wing. Senior forward Alexis Smith was the team's top goal scorer until she was sidelined with a torn ACL in an Oct. 1 loss to Mars.

Gapczynski is still unsure how he is going to adjust his lineup after losing Smith. He will either go to a freshman to fill in or adjust the starting lineup.

"I had no idea the senior leadership would come together and be as strong as it has been," he said. "We have seniors who can lead the team without even playing. It has helped give us the record we have. I knew the freshmen would be good but didn't anticipate them competing like this at this level."

It was a freshman, Leah Langhans, who scored the game-winning goal against Seneca Valley with 19 seconds left in the second overtime.

Gapczynski's daughter, Taylor, is a junior and an attacking center midfielder and "quarterback" of the team. Junior Kylie Fuller is a returning starter at forward.

Leading the defense are a pair of returning starters. Junior Larissa Steeb is at left back and sophomore Christina Boada is at middle back and plays in front of junior goalkeeper Rachel Middleman. Junior Margaret Nikituk also starts on defense with freshman Calene Daugherty coming off the bench. Another junior, Savanna Kelly, has seen playing time and has been the go-to substitute off the bench.

With a strong returning starter in goal and speed on defense, Gapczynski usually uses three defenders. He relies on Middleman to organize the defense from the back and for his two holding midfielders to clog the middle of the field.

After a 2-0 loss to Seneca Valley Sept. 17, the defense came together and shut out four consecutive section opponents -- Butler, North Hills, Shaler Area and Pine-Richland.

"On the field, our strength is our ability to do everything as a team," Gapczynski said. "We do not depend on three people to defend. We don't depend on one or two people to do the job on offense. We build completely as a team from the back. Everybody trusts each other and knows their roles. Everyone has a trust and everyone has a role."