By: Michael Love
Saturday, July 26, 2025 | 10:47 AM
Plum rising junior goalkeeper Chase Eber looks to defend during a voluntary workout session July 23, 2025, at Plum High School.
Plum rising senior midfielder Chase Berrott looks to make a play during a voluntary workout session July 23, 2025, at Plum High School.
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Chase Eber is a rising junior goalkeeper hoping to raise his game for the Plum boys soccer team.
He split varsity duties in net for most of last year with Brady McLaughlin and helped the Mustangs go undefeated in Section 1-4A play, win 18 games overall, reach the WPIAL title game at Highmark Stadium, and advance to the second round of the PIAA playoffs.
Now, Eber is the undisputed leader of the last line of defense for the Mustangs. Like his Plum teammates, he has benefited from a great deal of on-field work this spring and summer in preparation to defend many of their accomplishments from 2024 while going for more in 2025.
“Starting and playing the whole game in the playoffs gave me a benchmark for this year,” said Eber who has been a part of the voluntary training sessions since the spring with a group that has sometimes numbered 40 players.
“It was good to be able to face the challenges of North Allegheny and Fox Chapel and the good teams in the state playoffs and get my mind right for 80 minutes. We’re out here keeping each other fit with the pace of play and also helping mold the new freshmen coming in and those who will be stepping into bigger roles as starters or others coming off the bench. It gives us a good foundation and helps us see who is ready to step up and play.”
The Plum boys, under the veteran coaching leadership of Raf Kolankowski, again have a target on their backs and are working to formulate the potential contributors to the lineup after 14 seniors and nine starters were lost to graduation from last year’s team.
“My seniors have really stepped up and helped get everyone involved with the summer work,” said Kolankowski, who does welcome back the likes of senior Christian Alter, the leader in goals scored among the returnees (9), as well fellow seniors Parker Berrott and Austin Kolankowski, among others.
“They have everyone on an online chat or whatever they do to make sure everyone comes to the workouts and are also doing a lot of extra stuff on their own. We’ve had good numbers for a lot of high-energy work. They are hungry, and they want to repeat what they did last year. That is their mission.
“It’s a challenge losing as many good players as we did, but that is what these workouts help with. I don’t want to say it’s a rebuilding year, but I know with the guys coming back and those who are ready to step in, they will give us a great chance to continue to do what we’ve been doing the past six years.”
The Plum girls, under the direction of seventh-year coach Jamie Stewart, are working to maintain that same level of success.
Regular training sessions, Stewart said, have helped transition from last year’s team which went 17-3 overall, 12-0 in Section 4-3A, and reached the WPIAL semifinals and third-place consolation before falling in both to Fox Chapel and Mars, respectively.
Stewart said there is a lot of motivation behind the summer work as returning team members and newcomers help put a base in place for the start of official preseason workouts for all fall sports teams Aug. 11.
“These workouts for us are a great opportunity for the incoming freshmen to get touches on the ball and some evaluation and work with those upperclassmen with whom they will be playing,” said Stewart who last week was waiting for the return of a few team members playing with their club teams at national tournaments in Florida.
“It invigorated me to see the girls together again and coming out and working really hard to prepare themselves for what we are going to do in the fall. We always are building and trying to maintain that winning culture, and the girls understand what our expectations are as coaches. We’ve had successes in the past, but they are in the past. When we step on the field, no one is going to give us anything. We have to earn it, and we earn it by coming out and putting in the work.”
The Plum girls team will be headlined by a returning core of rising sophomore Ali Joyce; rising junior Emily Grubich; and rising seniors Giana Revetta, Olivia Bigger, Meghan Stammer, Allison Porter and Malayna Smith in goal.
“We have an excellent pipeline of talent from our youth program up to the high school, and that is awesome, but it’s about the work ethic, and these girls each summer show what it takes to be ready and to work together and be accountable for each other,” said Stewart, who has seen additional growth from his players taking part in training sessions with former professional soccer player Stefan Lundberg and his Legends of Pittsburgh Fitness group.
“I see that dedication not only with us together but in the work they do on their own. It’s that everyday mindset that gets them to where they need to be.”
Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.
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