A-K Valley boys soccer preview: Deer Lakes, Plum, Fox Chapel among teams to watch

By: Greg Macafee
Thursday, August 21, 2025 | 4:45 PM

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Over the last seven years, the Deer Lakes boys soccer program has found a way to insert itself into the WPIAL championship conversation on an annual basis.

First, it was the trio of Michael Sullivan, Colton Spence and Devin Murray — who’s now an assistant coach with the program — leading the Lancers to their first WPIAL title in 2020.

Then, Ryan Hanes, Nick Braun and the current crop of Deer Lakes seniors — who were freshmen at the time — captured another in 2022.

Now they are looking to do it again.

“It’s going to be an exciting year. It should be an exciting year for us,” coach Aaron Smith said. “It’s a senior-run team, and they’ve been pretty successful over the last three years, hoping to cap off a big one in their senior year.”

With two seniors, the Lancers went 18-4-1 overall last year and had a 13-1 conference record while allowing eight goals in league play. Their four losses came against Shady Side Academy, North Hills, Avonworth and Fairview, with the latter two coming in the postseason.

Seniors Jacob Orseno, Peyton Kushon, Collin Rodgers, Zane Spence and goalkeeper Wesley Boyle head a 12-man senior class that is looking to return to Highmark Stadium with a balanced attack.

“It’s not like we’re shining on one player,” Smith said. “There’s a lot of talent there, and they work off each other pretty well.”

A few underclassmen have worked their way into the mix as well. Sophomores Connor Moore and Maddox Messler have impressed, along with freshman Sam Dischner, continuing a cycle that has made Deer Lakes what it is in recent years.

When Sullivan, Spence and Murray were leading the way, Braun and Hanes were two younger players contributing and learning how to lead from the older players. When they took over, players such as Orseno and Kushon were learning.

Those older players don’t stay away either. They return to Deer Lakes to pass on their knowledge and the culture of the program.

“The culture is just awesome,” Smith said. “They (Hanes and Braun) took the time to help us out in camp. Nick helped with my goalkeepers when I was working with some other players, and that shows you what they have. They are coming back three years removed and still trying to keep the program moving forward. So that culture is awesome. That’s my goal is to keep that culture moving forward. That winning culture.”

Around the A-K Valley

• Plum didn’t lose a regular-season game last year. After tying Upper St. Clair and North Allegheny in their first two games of the season, they won 16 of their next 17 games, including a thrilling double-overtime victory over Canon-McMillan in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs.

However, the Mustangs saw their title hopes vanish with a 1-0 loss to Fox Chapel, whom they had beaten 3-1 in their final regular-season game, in the WPIAL title game.

The Mustangs return five starters, including midfielder/forward Austin Kolankowski, midfielder Marco Tommasino and goalkeeper Chase Eber.

“We have a solid group of seniors and should compete for a section title,” coach Raf Kolankowski said.

Plum will need to find a way to replace the likes of all-section players Garrett Chandler, Gage Adinolfi and Fedgy Fertil as it chases a WPIAL title.

• After winning its first WPIAL title since 1995, Fox Chapel looks to replace a seven-man senior class that included Valley News Dispatch Player of the Year and all-state forward Milo Chiu along with forward Carson Krushansky, who scored the winning goal against Plum in the WPIAL title game.

Senior goalkeeper Brady Matthews returns after his first full year in net, but the Foxes need to replace a lot of firepower if they want to return to Highmark Stadium.

• Knoch missed the postseason a year ago after losing four of its final six games to finish 7-11 overall and 4-8 in section play. With returning all-section honoree Austin Friedline, who scored 15 goals and tallied seven assists, back in the mix, Knoch has a good foundation.

• Burrell was on the edge of a PIAA state playoff berth last year, only to meet Deer Lakes in the third-place match of the WPIAL playoffs. Still, the Bucs finished just over .500 overall and went 8-6 in conference play.

To produce similar results this season, they’ll have to find a way to replace midfielder Billy Kowalkowski, who scored 12 goals and tallied 15 assists to earn All-WPIAL honors. Junior midfielder Vincent Guerrini is in position to fill that role as the Bucs look to make another run.

• In his first year at Springdale, coach Mario Liberati led the Dynamos to a WPIAL playoff appearance, which ended in the quarterfinals with a shootout loss to Our Lady of Sacred Heart. The Dynamos had 10 seniors a year ago, so garnering experience early on will be a must, but they do return senior midfielder Brennan Mattie.

• Freeport has come close to punching its ticket to the playoffs the past two seasons under coach Brad Walker. Could 2025 be its year?

The Yellowjackets return nine starters, including a pair of all-section midfielders: senior Ryan Sutara and junior Xavier Dewitt. Sutara led with team with nine assists last season.

However, Freeport will have to replace the production of forward Angelo Porco, who tallied 23 goals last season.

“We’ll look to our full contingent of players to be contributing factors,” Walker said.

• After going 5-10-1 last season, coach Ethan Gillette is back for his second year at Highlands and returns 10 starters. Senior Ryan Maloney, who led Class 2A, Section 1 in scoring last year with 25 goals while adding a team-high 12 assists, leads the way.

“We should push for a playoff spot while competing, top to bottom, in one of the toughest sections in the WPIAL,” Gillette said.

The Rams also bring back key contributors in junior goalie Liam Roberts, senior defender Dean Besterman and junior striker Brady Celko. Senior midfielder Cainen McCann returns after suffering an injury halfway through last year.

• Valley and Leechburg are looking to recover from one-win seasons, which saw them finish at the bottom of Class 2A, Section 1, and average a goal or less a game. They split their two-game season series. St. Joseph will also look to rebound from a year in which it only won three games.

• Grant Lange, who was an assistant last season, replaces Ben Fiore and takes over at Kiski Area as the Cavaliers look to turn it around. They didn’t win a game in 2024 and tallied nine goals while allowing 72.

• Riverview will look to continue its climb. The Raiders went winless in 2021 after a one-year hiatus because of low numbers and won just one game in 2022 and five in 2023. Last season, they won 10 games and earned a WPIAL playoff berth.

However, they’ll have to replace a talented senior class that included all-section honorees Chris O’Toole, Drew Hunter and goalkeeper Quin Fischer.

Players to watch

Austin Friedline, Sr., F Knoch

Peyton Kushon, Sr., F, Deer Lakes

Collin Rodgers, Sr., F, Deer Lakes

Wesley Boyle, Sr., GK, Deer Lakes

Austin Kolankowski, Sr., MF, Plum

Ryan Maloney, Sr., M, Highlands

Brady Matthews, Sr., GK, Fox Chapel

Brennan Mattie, Sr., M, Springdale

Zane Spence, Sr., D, Deer Lakes

Vincent Guerrini, Jr., M, Burrell

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Burrell, Deer Lakes, Fox Chapel, Freeport, Highlands, Kiski Area, Knoch, Leechburg, Plum, Riverview, Springdale, St. Joseph, Valley