Stellar duo: Gesinski, DeUnger earn H-S girls soccer top honors
Jim Downey
Mount Pleasant and Charleroi both won section titles and one playoff game during the 2023 girls soccer season and share in top honors of the Herald-Standard All-Area Girls Soccer Team.
Lady Vikings sophomore Morgan Gesinski and Lady Cougars senior McKenna DeUnger are the H-S Girls Co-Players of the Year, and Mount Pleasant’s Rich Garland and Charleroi’s Tom Cameron are the Co-Coaches of the Year.
Gesinski and DeUnger are members of the First Team along with Laurel Highlands seniors Kate Chiado and Addyson Nose, Uniontown junior Alison Novak, Connellsville seniors Emma Tikey and Grace Bosnic and freshman Rylee Leasher, Mount Pleasant seniors Maggie Piper and Riley Gesinski, junior Rylin Bugosh and sophomore Laurel Rummemel, Charleroi seniors Bella Carroto and Addison Conrad and freshman Aryada Chiploskey, Elizabeth Forward seniors Abby Beinlich and Giovanna Ferraro and junior Brooklyn Baldensperger, Belle Vernon senior Kataira Rhodes, Southmoreland junior Aubrey Seder, Bentworth freshman Megan Keturakis, Monessen senior Samantha Saylor, and Waynesburg Central sophomore Ella Miller.
The area’s top 10 regular-season goal scorers according to statistics compiled by the Post-Gazette were Baldesberger (33), DeUnger (28), Morgan Gesinski (26), Miller (26), Saylor (25), Carroto (24), Piper (24), Chiado (20), Novak (20) and Bugosh (19).
Members of the second team are Southmoreland’s Megan Mehall, Ringgold’s Imani Arnold and Elizzabeth Wilson, Mount Pleasant’s Maddie Barrick, Waynesburg’s Rylei Rastoka and Lake Litwinovich, Yough’s Kate Slavick, Elizabeth Forward’s Mia Valerio and Caylin Seabol, Beth-Center’s Kendall Welsh, Bentworth’s Emily Kisner and Bella Moyer, Belle Vernon’s Ava Scalise, Uniontown’s Casey Fijalkovic, Sarah White, Jac Jeffreys and Olivia Murtha, Albert Gallatin’s Caileigh Theodori, Isabella McClelland, Olivia Eicher, Lily Mick and Rylan Fike, Laurel Highlands’ Jocelyn Radcliffe, Elle Mancini, Hannah Boor and Madison McClean, Connellsville’s Addison Bandemer, Hayley Washington and Sarah Tinkey, and Brownsville’s Lizzy McCune, Lexi Lewandowski, Caitlin Miske, Kenya Shaw and Ramielle Grayson.
Garland guided Mount Pleasant to a 16-2 overall record, including a 15-match winning streak, and first place in Section 3-AA. The Lady Vikings went 1-1 in the postseason, falling to Burrell, 2-1 in overtime, in the WPIAL quarterfinals.
Cameron steered Charleroi to a 15-2 overall record and first place in Section 2-A. The Lady Cougars also went 1-1 in the postseason.
Other area playoff teams were Connellsville (third) and Laurel Highlands (fourth) out of Section 3-AAA, Southmoreland (second) and Yough (fourth) out of Section 3-AA, and Waynesburg (third) out of Section 2-A.