Experienced Riverview boys soccer team hopes to continue turnaround

By: Michael Love
Sunday, August 28, 2022 | 9:01 AM

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The Riverview boys soccer team went winless in 2021.

There were several close matchups that went down to the wire, but the youthful Raiders squad, with no seniors and just four juniors, weren’t able to get over the hump.

But while the team didn’t find success in terms of wins and losses, it was a victory for a program which wasn’t able to field a team the year before because of low numbers.

Now, many of the major players from last year’s team are back and hungry to win games both in and out of Section 3-A play.

“I am pretty excited. Hopefully, we can do a lot better than we did last year,” said sophomore forward/midfielder Chris O’Toole, who had a breakout season with six goals and earned Valley News Dispatch second-team honors.

“We wanted to come out and prove that we were better than our record (0-16, 0-12) was last year. We have our eyes on picking up some wins and make the playoffs. We have a great chance at that this year with our new talent and our team building from last year.”

Seniors Max Catanzaro, Jed Dreher and Patrick Harvey are veteran holdovers from the 2019 Raiders squad which made the WPIAL playoffs.

“I am just ready to go out and play well and show that we have improved and make this the best senior year possible,” Catanzaro said.

“We’ve come a long way since we got this team started last year after not having anything two years ago. We had a lot of great workouts over the summer and into camp with a lot of energy from the older guys to the younger and newer players. Even after I leave, I see this team getting even stronger.”

Harvey said that in addition to welcoming everyone back from last year, several freshmen joined the team ready to make their mark.

“With the starters, we have a really nice bench that can come in and play well,” he said. “That is so important to have depth, especially when we get late into close matches.”

Riverview coach Mickey Namey said he likes the team energy coming into this season with their desire to turn around last year’s results.

“You would think coming from a team that was 0-16, you would have some letdown, but for almost everyone, last year was their first year of varsity experience,” said Namey, who welcomes to the program former Springdale standout Mario Liberati as an assistant coach.

“They came back and knew what they had to do speed-wise on the field to compete at such a high level. Our section last year, with Winchester Thurston the WPIAL and PIAA champ, Eden Christian a state semifinalist, and Springdale as strong as they are, it was a rough introduction for the kids to high school soccer. I had to remind them despite some of the tough losses, they were getting better and these experiences would benefit them down the road.”

Riverview was to kick off its season Friday against Class 2A Deer Lakes, a team just two seasons away from winning a WPIAL championship and playing in the PIAA title game in Hershey.

The Raiders also were to open Section 3-A play Tuesday against rival Springdale.

Riverview hosts St. Joseph in a section matchup at 3:45 p.m. Thursday at Riverside Park.

“That’s what we want,” Namey said. “We wanted to build a challenging schedule where they are playing a high level of soccer. When you step into our section, you get the state champion twice in Winchester Thurston. These early games are really going to show what’s working for us and also what we might still need to work on.”

In addition to Winchester Thurston, Springdale and St. Joseph, Riverview again will face playoff qualifier Aquinas Academy, and local rival Burrell has dropped down from Class 2A.

Trinity Christian also is a newcomer to the section.

“The section is going to be tough, but we have a lot of young talent, and we’re excited to get out there,” Harvey said.

“We didn’t have anyone graduate, so the whole team is back ready to prove what we can do.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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