Chartiers Valley boys overcome adversity, show improvement during playoff season

By: Ted Sarneso
Sunday, October 26, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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As the WPIAL playoffs were just set to begin, Chartiers Valley boys soccer coach Bill Douglass knew it wasn’t about where his team was seeded, just that the team was in the postseason for the third year in a row.

“Once you get into the playoffs, everyone has a chance to win,” said Douglass. “You hope for a good draw, but at the end of the day, you have to beat good soccer teams in order to compete for a title.”

So, when the WPIAL Class 3A bracket was revealed and the Colts (10-4-1, 9-2-1) were seeded sixth, Douglass enjoyed the fact his team was on the opposite side of the bracket from section foes Moon and West Allegheny.

“Personally, I like playing teams we haven’t faced all year. Adds a bit more excitement,” Douglass said.

Chartiers Valley drew No. 11 seed Trinity in the first round and dispatched the Hillers, 3-2, behind a goal from sophomore defender Aidan Ozeby, his first of the season, and a pair of goals from senior defender Vinnie DiPietro.

“If you told me before the game that I would have a kid score his first goal of the season and get two goals from my center back, I’d say I’ll take it,” Douglass said.

Trinity scored its two goals off what Douglass referred to as “mental mistakes” and was something that had hurt the Colts more so in the first half of their season than the back half.

“It wasn’t necessarily something the other team was doing, and it wasn’t a physical or knowledge-based issue for us,” said Douglass. “We overcame a lot of those during the regular season, be that in transition, defending free kicks or set pieces. We learned to eliminate them as the season progressed.”

The start of the year was indeed turbulent for Chartiers Valley.

The Colts couldn’t find any consistency in their play and were hampered by a host of injuries to a lineup that returned eight starters from a year ago. Those injuries forced a group of talented players that were coming off the bench into starting roles.

Leading that group was freshman defender Andriyan Shusko.

“He went from being one of the first or second subs on the field, to starting,” said Douglass.” He was sort of thrown into the fire, but he adapted and handled it very well. He has great composure.”

Another key contributor was Ozbey, who played everywhere for Douglass, from right back to the six, wherever the team needed him.

“He played a key role on the back end, controlling that midfield spot for us,” Douglass said.

Ozbey’s presence, along with veteran all-section selections in DiPietro and junior Luke Waldron, helped the Colts morph into a more defensive-minded team as they closed out the first half of their season 4-4 overall and 4-2 in section play.

“Our guys were a resilient group,” Douglass said. “It didn’t matter where I played them, they were able to get the job done. They began to put forth a total defensive effort with the mindset that the other team wasn’t going to score.

“There was also a bit of luck on our side as well.”

One piece of huge luck came in the return of sophomore Talon DeOrio, who had been out of soccer for the past two years with knee issues. He returned just as the Colts were facing a rash of injuries.

“Even though he couldn’t play a full game right off the bat, just having a player of his caliber in there was huge for us,” Douglass said.

In those first eight games, Chartiers Valley played three overtime games and won two of them. Their only overtime loss in the first half came in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Moon.

“It should have ended in a tie, but it was just another one of those mental mistakes we had in that first half of the season,” Douglass said. “I liked the way we handled ourselves. We proved to ourselves we could play a complete game against one of the top teams in the area. That gave us a lot of confidence moving forward.”

After a 3-0 loss to Mt. Lebanon in nonsection play, the Colts used that newfound confidence to supercharge their defensive efforts as they went on a seven-game unbeaten streak to close the regular season.

After allowing 15 goals in the first half, the Colts defense and goalkeepers held opponents to just three goals in the second half.

“Sean Walsh was huge in net for us,” said Douglass. “For someone who just started playing goalie in eighth grade, seeing him continue to progress and develop into the player he’s become is leaps and bounds over where he was last year.”

Backup keeper Gavin Waldron also stepped in, keeping a clean sheet as the Colts defeated North Hills, 1-0, midway through the streak. Chartiers Valley finished the season with six shutouts.

Walsh led the team with five of those shutouts.

Leading the team in goals was junior Jonah Mastren-Williams, who scored 12 and was an all-section honorable mention.

Senior Zach Krause, another all-section selection, led the team with seven assists.

The Colts closed out their season with two more overtime games, a 2-2 tie in double overtime against Moon and a 2-1 win over Montour.

“Playing in all those overtime games taught us how to be resilient and how to bring it home, close out games and how to win,” said Douglass. “It was also a way for us to keep the game fun for the boys. After games like that you just want to keep practices light and enjoyable.”

After the Trinity win in the WPIAL Class 3A first round, the Colts looked to rely on their lessons learned and resiliency as they faced off against No. 3 Franklin Regional in the quarterfinals, a game played a day after press time.

“Our focus will be to try and play an error-free game,” said Douglass. “There’s a reason they were in the championship game last year and why they received the seed they did. They’re a good team, but we have to take care of what we can control, eliminate what they do best, and that will give us a chance to compete with them and maybe come away with a win.”

No matter the outcome of that game, Douglass is proud of the growth, not just in his players, but in himself in his first year as the head coach.

“I like to assess every game after it’s played and point out mistakes,” said Douglass. “And that included an assessment of myself. When I made mistakes or poor decisions, I let the boys know and what I would have done differently. I wanted them to see we all took major steps this season as far as growth.

“I couldn’t be happier with the boys and how the season went. It was a collaborative effort between the players and coaching staff to challenge ourselves and become better as the season went on, because we wanted to compete in the playoffs at the end of the year.”

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