Heading into his first year at the helm, Fox Chapel girls' lacrosse coach Geoff Dutelle admits he didn't know much about the other teams in WPIAL Section 2.

Before this season, he had never seen WPIAL powers Sewickley Academy or Quaker Valley play. Still, he had a hunch his Foxes would be the team to beat in 2008.

"I just assessed what we had to work with from the beginning, and my thoughts were that it was very, very good," Dutelle said. "I was very blunt with [my team] and told them that I had planned on winning our games against Sewickley and Quaker Valley, even though history told me that both usually dominated us."

With the end of the regular season approaching, Dutelle's hunch has proven to be correct.

The Foxes are 13-2 overall, 10-0 in Section 2 heading after Tuesday's 10-7 win at Hampton. Fox Chapel, which is ranked No. 5 by Laxpower.com, already has clinched a spot in the playoffs and is closing in on the first section title in the program's history.

"Clearly, the girls are very excited and proud of their accomplishments, as they should be, but they know we haven't technically won anything yet," Dutelle said. "We still need to clinch the division, and we also don't want to just show up at the WPIALs. We want to make some noise."

While Dutelle knew his team would be good, he wasn't sure if his players did.

"I couldn't tell if all of them believed me," he said, "but they all played like they did."

And they proved it in their second game of the season, a matchup against Seneca Valley, which currently leads Section 1.

Fox Chapel trailed by one goal just before halftime before a goal from Kristyn Anderson tied the game. The Foxes then scored the first three goals of the second half before holding on for an 8-7 win.

"It was as resilient of an effort as I have seen out of them all year," Dutelle said.

But for Dutelle, the biggest wins to date have been the Foxes' season sweeps of Sewickley Academy and Quaker Valley.

"The first win over Sewickley [9-8 on April 3] was incredible," he said. "We had never beaten them before, so it was awe-inspiring to the girls. Our two wins over Quaker Valley were also stunning in that they easily have the most talent in our division."

Fox Chapel has been led this season by Anderson (41 goals, 7 assists through 14 games) and senior Danielle Gruen (39 goals, 3 assists). The two account for more than half of the team's offense.

"Both are exceptional dodgers, which works out very well with our offensive schemes," Dutelle said. "They go to the goal with ferocity, and that is why you see them at the top of the stat line.

"Kristyn uses her height to her advantage when rolling around the crease, while Danielle uses her speed to get past defenders from the top, so it gets to a point where most teams know what is coming, but they still struggle to stop it."

Other seniors on Fox Chapel include attackers Lizzie Barrington (13 goals) and Lauren DeNinno, defenders Stefanie Brown, Rochelle Foley, Elise Heffernan and Samantha Fownes, and goalie Kelly Hepp-ner.

"Kelly has been exceptional in goal all season," Dutelle said. "The two wins over Quaker Valley would simply not have happened without her back there. She also has a solid defense in front of her. Having a solid defense and goalie often separates the good teams from the great teams in lacrosse."

Following their matchup with Hampton, Fox Chapel will have three games remaining in the regular season. Dutelle has started to prepare his team for the playoffs.

"It hasn't really set in yet with some of them, I don't think, because the playoffs are still two weeks away," Dutelle said. "We have, though, discussed how to make the adjustment from being the hunter to the hunted.

"They know that we aren't sneaking up on anybody anymore, but that's OK because we feel the system we have set up allows us to be successful in any circumstances."