After matching playoff runs the last 2 years, Chartiers Valley girls lacrosse faces changes

By: Ted Sarneso
Sunday, June 22, 2025 | 11:01 AM

When looking at the WPIAL and PIAA playoff brackets the Chartiers Valley girls lacrosse team competed in the last two years, one has to do a double take to make sure they aren’t looking at the same bracket twice.

The Colts avoided a case of déjà vu in small part to a different opponent in the quarterfinals of this year’s PIAA playoffs.

Otherwise, in back-to-back years, the Colts defeated Conneaut by double digits in the first round of the state tournament and in both years were eliminated in the second round. This year, the Colts fell 16-3 to District 3 champion Wyomissing.

“It’s definitely a whole new level of competition that we don’t get to see regularly enough,” said Colts coach Melissa Moran. “Credit to Wyomissing, they were clearly hungry and ready from the beginning, and they dominated us on the draw all day.”

The postseason similarities began for the Colts (16-5) as they made their way through the WPIAL Class 2A bracket.

They faced the same two opponents, Quaker Valley and South Fayette, in their first two contests, with the order being reversed.

In 2024, the Colts beat the Quakers, 10-9, before defeating South Fayette, 8-7, in overtime. This year, Chartiers Valley bested the Lions, 9-3, and advanced to take down Quaker Valley, 10-8.

“South Fayette was close for a lot of that game, and we pulled away at the end, and that allowed us to breathe,” said Moran. “Then, Quaker Valley, to their credit, they had improved immensely since the first time we played them. We had to be able to maximize the opportunities when necessary.”

The Colts also beat both those teams late in the regular season, so there was a lot of familiarity with their opponents.

“There’s good and bad to that,” said Moran. “It’s nice being familiar with the teams that we’ll be facing in the playoffs and having that first round bye certainly gives us time to review film and see what worked for us in those first meetings and what didn’t.

“On the flip side, the girls can see that the score was one way the first time around, and they might think it will be that way again. We just had to remind them that playoffs are a whole new ballgame, and we had to treat them like teams we had never seen before and be prepared for whatever they throw at us.”

Once again, the Colts’ WPIAL title hopes were crushed by Mars.

“Credit to coach Abby Latona and her staff,” said Moran. “They had the legs and an answer in making a shift in the second half. They played very well on both ends and were ready to rise to the occasion.”

The Colts were in the game at halftime, down 6-4, before the Planets displayed dominant ball possession and rolled to a 15-6 victory.

It was the second consecutive year that the Colts have lost to the Planets in the WPIAL Class 2A title game. The teams also faced off in the 2022 title match, with the Colts coming out on top.

“We didn’t do a good job of maximizing our opportunities when they presented themselves and minimizing our mistakes,” added Moran. “With such a large group of seniors, we were looking for the upset this year, but it just didn’t go our way.”

Even though they didn’t get to claim WPIAL gold and once again had their state playoff journey end in the second round, the Colts did put together an outstanding regular season campaign.

The Colts opened the season with a convincing 18-4 win over Seton LaSalle. They then took Upper St. Clair to overtime before falling 7-6.

Then, the Colts embarked on an undefeated month, winning 10 straight before a 12-8 loss against Mars on April 17.

Everyone’s focus and mentality sharpened after that loss to USC, and we were able to go through that main part of the season and put together that win streak,” said Moran. “We learned we needed to still show up, be ready and treat every game as an opportunity to get better.”

Offensively, the Colts averaged 12.2 goals per game, including playoffs. They were led by senior midfielder Juliana Betts, who scored 56 goals, adding to her more than 200 career goals, a milestone she surpassed last season, and had 37 assists to lead the team.

“Juliana has always been versatile where she can touch the ball at any place and any time,” said Moran. “She has such a strong shot with either her left or right hands that when needed, she’s the person we’re looking to.”

Betts will continue her lacrosse career next year at American University.

Fellow senior attackers Mallorie LaGamba and Megan Witte were also major offensive threats. LaGamba led the team with 59 goals and Witte added 46.

“Mallorie would average up to three goals a game,” Moran said. “She’s a strong cutter and knows when to do so and finds the back of the net at the right time. Megan had four goals against Mars both times, and she was the leading scorer more often than not against strong teams. She used her speed and bounce shot to her advantage and was able to draw the defense out of position a lot of the times.”

LaGamba, who will play at IUP next year, surpassed 200 career goals this season and Witte passed 100 career goals and over 100 draw controls.

Other seniors who will continue their careers in college include Ava Warzinski (Youngstown State) and Gianna Baker (Edinboro).

Defensively, the Colts had a strong presence in senior Kaitlyn Kuczinski in net as the team allowed an average of 5.8 goals a game. She eclipsed 400 career saves in her final year at Chartiers Valley.

“She was one of the biggest hearts of our defense,” said Moran. “Without her voice and ability to make saves and clear the ball as she was able to do, we might have been in a different position.”

Kuczinski, who will play at Mount Union next season, was surrounded by a steady defense led by senior captain and defensive midfielder Natalia Polumbo and junior defender Valerie Suter.

“Natalia was absolutely the vocal leader of our defense,” Moran said. “She was willing to make anything happen at any time and isn’t afraid to challenge the ball or pressure out to make a play. Valerie started all season for us, and it will be interesting to see how she embraces a leadership role next season.”

As Suter becomes the team’s defensive leader next year, junior Kylie Miller, a Bloomsburg University commit, will become the focal point of the Colts offense.

“I’ve known and coached her since youth,” said Moran. “She is very fast, very agile and has a great shot. She’ll take on a leadership role next year, and I can’t wait to see what she does for the program.”

Miller and Suter will look to be steady influences next year for a Chartiers Valley team that is losing 12 seniors but has a large group of girls coming in from eighth grade.

“There’s a decent group coming in from eighth grade, and I had the opportunity to do lessons with some of them. There’s a good bit of strong talent there,” said Moran. “The senior class will be hard to replace, but I think people shouldn’t count CV out of the picture even though that class is leaving.”

Moran has a lot of confidence that the Colts will continue the program’s success next year, even though she will not be returning.

After six winning seasons, four trips to the WPIAL championship game, one WPIAL title, three PIAA appearances and an overall record of 76-24, Moran is stepping down as coach and moving back home to the Syracuse, N.Y., area.

“To watch this program grow into what it has become the last few years has been an honor,” Moran said. “All the credit goes to the girls I’ve coached and the hard work and dedication they brought forth. To be able to make deep playoff runs, even though they did not end the way we originally hoped, was nothing to be ashamed about.”

Tags: Chartiers Valley