The men\u2019s and women\u2019s soccer teams from Pitt-Greensburg enter the 2025 season with plenty of optimism. With both squads returning several key players, they are setting their sights on Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference titles.<\/p>\n
Coach Marc Bucci\u2019s men\u2019s team got out of the gate slowly in 2024 but rebounded to finish 4-4 in the AMCC then won a match in the conference tournament before losing in the semifinals to top-seeded Alfred State.<\/p>\n
The women\u2019s team ended its 2024 regular season on a six-match winning streak, then won its opening match in the AMCC Tournament to advance to the final. Top-seeded Penn State Behrend ended the Bobcats\u2019 title hopes with a 4-0 victory in the final.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at both teams heading into 2025:<\/p>\n
Men<\/p>\n
The Bobcats will be bolstered by the return of junior forward Matt Armenio, the team\u2019s lone returning all-conference selection. He has 14 goals in 23 matches over his two seasons in Greensburg, including a team-leading 10 in 2024.<\/p>\n
Sophomore winger Jake McClintock (Penn-Trafford) returns after missing all but one game last season because of an injury.<\/p>\n
Sophomore midfielder Cam Loveland led the team in minutes last season and will be counted on to help steer UPG\u2019s attack. He will be joined in the midfield by junior Lucas Pittman (Plum), who transferred from Penn State Behrend. Pittman made six starts for the Lions last season (18 appearances overall) and contributed a goal and two assists.<\/p>\n
Bucci said the Bobcats will try to use offense as part of their defense. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe see ourselves as a possession-based team, using patience to frustrate opponents,\u201d Bucci said. \u201cThat style also helps defensively. In other words: If they don\u2019t have the ball, they can\u2019t score. <\/p>\n
\u201cFinishing chances earlier will be key so we\u2019re not constantly playing from behind, which should open up opposing defenses. If we can eliminate simple possession errors, we believe we can become one of the top defensive teams in the conference.\u201d <\/p>\n
That defense will be anchored by a pair of sophomore center backs: Nick Ricciardi and Arlo McIntyre.<\/p>\n
The roster is still young overall, but Bucci said many of those young players had experience last season, which should help going forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis could be a special season for our program,\u201d he said. \u201cWe only have two seniors, but this is the most returners we\u2019ve had since I took over in 2019. After three straight semifinal exits, we feel this group is ready to finally take that next step.\u201d<\/p>\n
Women<\/p>\n
Coach Chuck Wigle\u2019s team was solid on both sides of the ball in 2024 \u2014 finishing in the top three in the AMCC in goals and goals against \u2014 and though the Bobcats graduated six seniors, there\u2019s plenty left in the tank.<\/p>\n
Mt. Pleasant grad Riley Gesinski was the conference\u2019s \u201924 newcomer of the year and a first-teamer after posting six goals and seven assists. Fellow sophomore Dionna Santia (defense\/midfield) was an AMCC third-teamer. Santia made the most of her two goals last season: both were game-winners in conference matches.<\/p>\n
Senior midfielder Reese Walker is one of the team\u2019s most experienced players, having played 54 matches in her career. She was an All-AMCC second-teamer. Sophomore defender\/midfielder Sierra Frisoli could be poised for a big year after three goals and an assist in 10 matches last season.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the team\u2019s biggest additions aren\u2019t additions at all but rather two standouts who were limited by injuries last year. Forward\/midfielder Maya Wertelet is a two-time all-conference first-teamer who missed half of 2024. She scored 19 goals in 2023.<\/p>\n
Also back and healthy is senior forward\/midfielder Megan Hickey, another two-time first-teamer, who was limited to four matches last season. Hickey had 30 goals over her first two seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really excited for the \u201825 season,\u201d said Wigle, who is entering his 13th season. \u201cI believe this is the deepest team we\u2019ve had since I\u2019ve been here. \u2026 We play a tough 2025 schedule, which should set us up for whatever the postseason throws at us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Featured Local Businesses<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The men\u2019s and women\u2019s soccer teams from Pitt-Greensburg enter the 2025 season with plenty of optimism. With both…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76907,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-76906","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-soccer","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}