Girls soccer: West Hills teams gear up for successful ’26 campaigns
WPIAL girls soccer is back, and five teams are entering the season with something to prove.
Moon Area is looking to build on a 19-3 season and defend its section title. Montour hopes to challenge the Tigers after finishing second in the section last year, while Carlynton returns much of its playoff roster. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is looking to make another postseason run, and Bishop Canevin enters a new era under first-year coach Danielle Lukaszewicz.
With the season set to begin, Moon, Montour, Carlynton, OLSH and Bishop Canevin are ready to turn months of preparation into results on the field.
Bishop Canevin
Danielle Lukaszewicz takes over as head coach of the Crusaders, who finished with just two conference victories last season. In her first year, Lukaszewicz is focused on rebuilding the program.
Lukaszewicz said the team has a number of new players who have never played soccer before.
“Our returning players have been huge assets in showing the new players the ropes and helping them learn the game,” she said.
Lukaszewicz said key returning players include senior Julianna Daniele and juniors Cate Hites, Elena Chadish and Paitynn Wright, though she said all of the returning players have played key roles up to this point.
Lukaszewicz that she wants the team to give 110% no matter the outcome. She added that her players’ biggest strengths are their teamwork, commitment, sportsmanship, positivity and eagerness to learn all while maintaining their virtues as a private Catholic institution.
The Crusaders will use a 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 formation, as Lukaszewicz wants the team to work their way back up the field.
Freshman Samantha Knavish and sophomore Maddy Mahon are two underclassmen that Lukaszewicz expects to spark the team.
Lukaszewicz said that coming off of a tough season last year due to low numbers, one would expect morale to be low – but that’s not the case.
“This year, these players are the opposite,” Lukaszewicz said. “They are excited, enthusiastic, and ready to work hard this season. This is a rebuilding year with a new coaching staff and a higher number of players this season. Team morale is at an all- time high and filled with excitement.”
Carlynton
The Cougars return a majority of their starting lineup from a team that finished second in the section behind Seton LaSalle last season and reached the playoffs, earning a first-round victory.
Senior Riley Mauro spearheads the attack as she tallied a section-leading 18 goals. New head coach Heather Ritz comes in after being an assistant coach. She is looking forward to coaching a talented group of players.
“A returning All-WPIAL player is a dream for a coach,” Ritz said of Mauro, who has committed to play collegiately at St. Vincent. “Her leadership on the field is incredible but a distant second to her leadership off the field. She’s a support system and mentor to our younger players and I expect big things from her this year before she graduates.”
Junior midfielder Bella D’Antonio and sophomore forward Mac Crawford will also contribute after both racking up 11 goals last season.
“I’m also really excited for Bella D’Antonio this year,” Ritz said. “She plays centerback for Beadling but will be our box-to-box midfielder. She has great field vision, moves off the ball so well, and with her strength and speed, she will be difficult for opponents to contain.
Crawford, Ritz said, is possibly more technically sound on the ball than anyone in the group.
“She always has her body open to the field, has such a smooth touch on the ball, and recovers in the midfield like a fullback,” Ritz said. “Mac gives us versatility to attack like a forward and recover to get touch-tight while defending.”
Carlynton’s experience provides an advantage, but young players are also getting into the mix. Ritz said that freshman Briar Vetter will contribute and will allow the Cougars to be more dangerous in the final third. Vetter gives Carlynton the flexibility to take out a midfielder and pair Vetter with Mauro.
The Cougars will run a 4-5-1 formation, but when Vetter is there, the Cougars will switch to a 4-4-2.
“No matter our shape, we want to be able to build from the back to own possession in the midfield,” Ritz said. “Our wide midfielders and fullbacks will look to break the back line to find chances in the final third.”
Ritz said freshman Jenna Hussian will make an immediate impact on the backline. Sophomore Domenica Tuapante will contribute.
Ritz will rely on seniors Allie Glass, Emma Arnold, Mauro and Sophia O’Brien for leadership, while juniors Anita O’Leary, D’Antonio, “Bean” Crawford, Gigi Choate and Greta Schriver have also emerged as leaders. Ritz said the entire roster has embraced one another and created a family-like atmosphere.
“Every girl was out there at 6 a.m. for a 2-a-day camp this week,” Ritz said. “Players entered and exited player meetings today with excitement. While you never want to look too far ahead, my message to the team was to recognize that we play at F.N.B. Stadium in section play against Winchester Thurston. I challenged the girls to play a second game at F.N.B. Stadium in the WPIAL final. My question was simple: Why not us?”
Montour
The Montour Spartans finished 11-3 a year ago, placing second in the section behind Moon with a 10-2 record. The team reached the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals with a win over Franklin Regional before losing to Fox Chapel.
This season, Montour returns a strong defense and goalkeepers. Senior all-section goalkeeper Maddie Lewis returns after seven clean sheets last season.
The backline will be a strong suit with senior all-section and Clarion commit Lindsey Armitage playing centerback. Senior Geneva commits Emily Rishell and Vanessa Apicella also return as the three seniors will spearhead the defense.
Junior Pitt commit Irelynn Hobbs leads the attack after scoring a Montour record-breaking 33 goals last season, while tallying six assists for 39 points.
Montour coach Alex Hobbs, who is Irelynn’s father, said it’s no accident that his daughter has produced at that level, given the effort she puts into the game.
“I have coached Irelynn since she was 6 years old,” Alex Hobbs said. “She puts in a ton of work and it rubs off on the team. I do my best to give her small coaching points and focus on others as much as possible.”
Juniors Brooklyn Young and Kaci Mitcheltree will also push the attack alongside Hobbs — both players made a massive impact as they contributed to a majority of the 52 goals the Spartans scored all season.
Hobbs said his team is capable of reading defenses – and that makes a difference.
“If the back line is high we will go behind but if they drop we have no issue playing in front and combining,” he said. “The girls have worked hard in our system for a number of years. It’s a bit intuitive now.”
Hobbs said juniors Mia Pessy and Grace Mackin will make an impact, along with seniors Uma Hann, Holly Zulka, Syd Toulouse and Riley Fusco. He said that freshman Ciara Davis will make an impact on defense.
“We are all excited,” Hobbs said. “The girls have worked hard all summer and had a great team camp. Our section is very difficult so it will be fun to compete and see what we can do.”
Hobbs wants to take things one matchup at a time.
“We focus on the topics of each session and what we need to improve going into the next game,” he said. “Making playoffs and playing into November will take care of itself if we work on getting a bit better each day.”
Moon Area
The Tigers are one team ready to make another leap. Coach Bill Pfeiffer didn’t know what to expect last season due to some roster turnover. However, Moon put together an undefeated 12-0 section record and a 19-3 finish overall, taking home its fifth straight section title and advancing all the way to the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals.
“I thought last year would be more of a rebuilding year,” Pfeiffer said. “I think we stepped up a little bit last year, and we kind of punched out of our weight class. A lot of kids exceeded expectations, and we did well. Hopefully it carries over to this year.”
Pfeiffer said that when the schedule came out, he had people telling him they didn’t see where 10 wins might come from.
“And we ended up doubling the total,” he said. “They bought in.”
Senior midfielder Riley Lafayette will lead the attack and seniors Sofia Jovanelly, Anya Schwartz and Maddie Shaver will spearhead the defense.
Pfeiffer added that a Tigers strong suit is that they are a smart team. The team’s average GPA was 4.0 with 17 players holding a GPA higher than a 4.0.
The Tigers limit mistakes and it shows when Jovanelly, Schwartz and Shaver anchored the defense last season. The Tigers outscored their opponents 78-8, posting 12 clean sheets last season.
Rising sophomore Samantha D’Alesio and freshman Molly Capp are the two goalkeepers behind the defense.
With a plethora of players playing club soccer as well, the Tigers are used to possession soccer. However, Pfeiffer wants them to be ready for any style or formation that their opposition employs. They’ve exceeded expectations so far.
“Training sessions, they’ve been really good,” Pfeiffer said. “You can throw anything at these kids, and it may take them a couple of minutes or a little while to figure out what we’re looking for, what we’re trying to do, but after they get it, we can go through four or five progressions of the drill. It’s good stuff.”
Pfeiffer said the girls know that there will be a target on their back because of the winning culture and tradition. He added that the seniors this year experienced the last of championships in the three-peat from 2021-2023. He said being around that gives them a winning identity.
With the consistent winning, the Tigers know what’s expected of them.
“These kids have bought in,” Pfeiffer said. “They know they’re part of something that’s been successful, part of something that’s been good to them, and has been fun. The younger kids, they see that. They’re here all the time. They come in laughing and leave laughing, smiles on their faces. We’ll see what happens next week.”
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
The Chargers finished 8-7-1 last season and defeated Aquinas Academy in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs before falling to eventual champion Bentworth.
The Chargers bring back five starters — three of them being seniors in midfielders Eva Fardo and Maribel Medwig, along with defender Hannah Hayes. Junior defender Michelle Grayson and sophomore midfielder Jaida Wynkoop return. Coach Harry Wynkoop said that all five possess great leadership and playmaking ability.
Wynkoop said his team will employ a 4-2-4 configuration.
“It allows us to use our athleticism and attack quickly from anywhere on the field, which fits our players better,” he said.
With nine seniors on the roster the Chargers boast experience and strong leadership.
“Our seniors are fantastic leaders on and off the field,” Wynkoop said. “They all lead by example and work extremely hard. It makes my job easier.”
Wynkoop anticipates three freshman players to make an immediate impact with Alexa Laepelle on defense, Sydney Pasterick on offense and Faith Fardo in goal.
“We are very excited,” Wynkoop said. “We are looking forward to going further this year and building off what we did last year. When we lost last year we felt we were the better team but we gave up a few big plays and we are looking to make a deep run this year.”
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