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Peters Township reaching for the stars this soccer season

By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 4 min read
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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Nick Magee (9) heads the ball away from a Franklin Regional defender during the Indians’ 3-1 victory over the Panthers.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Connor Hoye of Peters Township goes toe to toe with a Franklin Regional midfielder during a non-section clash. The Indians defeated the Panthers, 3-1.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Austin Marmol (21) controls the ball during WPIAL soccer action. The Peters Township senior was one of 20 to be named a WPIAL scholar athlete.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Anthony Schullek (6) celebrates with Austin Marmol (21) after scoring his second goal in Peters Township’s victory against Franklin Regional.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Anthony Schullek (6) celebrates with Austin Marmol (21) after scoring his second goal in Peters Township’s victory over Franklin Regional.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Anthony Schullek celebrates after scoring his first goal in Peters Township’s victory over Franklin Regional.

The Peters Township boys soccer team is reaching for the stars this season.

With a wealth of experience and depth, the Indians anticipate challenging for their 10th WPIAL title and competing in the state final this November for the seventh time.

“This team hopes to make it’s mark in this program’s history, which is a pretty high bar,” said PT head coach Bobby Dyer. “Either by adding to our nine WPIAL championships or putting a star on our uniform, which indicates state championships.”

In 2014, the Indians won a WPIAL title and brought home PIAA gold for the fourth time in school history.

With a 29-player roster that includes seven returning full-time starters, the Indians are primed to improve upon last year’s 13-2-1 mark, which included a section title, and avenge their overtime loss in the WPIAL Class 4A final.

After posting back-to-back exhibition wins against Central Catholic and Franklin Regional, the Indians opened Section 2 action with a 6-1 victory at Baldwin.

Goalkeeper Nico Melograne excelled in recording a 3-0 victory against the Vikings. Melograne was backed by the defensive efforts of Joe Tornari, Dylan Shaw, Cole Woodward and Roman Milani.

Alex Grim and Anthony Schullek had two-goal performances against the Vikings and Panthers, respectively. Each has three goals after the first two contests. Alex Fielding, Mason Lewis and Andrew Massucci were credited with assists.

Against the Highlanders, Massucci racked up two goals and an assist. Blake Gabelhart, Grim, Steven Suchko and Tornari supplied the other scores. Nick Magee and Joe Heuler were credited with assists.

Last fall, Massucci was named WPIAL Player of The Year. He also garnered all-section, all-district and all-state accolades, including state player of the year. Massucci scored 19 goals last season.

Dyer said his expectations of Massucci this fall are simple.

“We hope that Andrew, like this team, can improve upon last season,” he said.

Massucci leads a deep senior class that also includes all-section midfielder Austin Marmol along with Melograne, Grim, Woodward, Tornari, Schullek, Shaw and Aidan Martik. Additionally, Heuler, Brady Sorrell, Alex Fielding, Alec Colombari, Nicholas Andreano and PJ Somers are seniors providing leadership for the Indians.

“We return numerous players that started games and contributed for us last season and while it’s always a difficult thing to fill vacancies, we expect these senior to lead this program back to the WPIAL championship game,” Dyer said. “We are as deep as we have ever been and we think that will be our strength this year.”

Dyer expects all his varsity players to contribute.

PT’s roster features 13 juniors in addition to Milani, Magee and Suchko. The other juniors are Jacob Petro, Connor Hoye, Mason Lewis, Dom Paris, Anthony Campos, Neven Barry, Matthew Milliken, Aiden Weiss, Cole Ternullo and Alexander Milliken. Lewis saw starting time last season.

Sophomores on the varsity roster include Gabelhart, Tyler Sorrell, Nathan Froelich, Jake Beisheim, Adam Cendroski, Connor Heinsen, Matthew Pollock and Logan Sawich.

Freshmen players include Markus Bizyak and Parker Weiss.

“Our depth and experience should be our strength,” said Dyer. “We hope to improve on our finishing and team defense.”

Dyer knows the task won’t be simple. Even emerging out of section play to compete in the WPIAL playoffs is a challenge against the likes of natural rivals like Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park and Canon-McMillan.

“I believe,” Dyer said, “there are 10 state titles within our section. Canon-Mac and USC are always very good teams while Brashear, Lebo, Bethel and Baldwin all made big strides last year. There is no easy game in our section, especially with the quality of coaching each school processes.”

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