From offseason work to early-season success, Springdale boys soccer works toward playoff goals

By: Greg Macafee
Thursday, September 25, 2025 | 5:45 PM

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

Heading into the 2025 season, Springdale boys soccer coach Mario Liberati and the Dynamos had some work to do.

A year after going 14-5 and suffering a shootout loss to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals, the Dynamos were tasked with replacing 10 seniors and a boatload of experience.

So they went to work.

As futsal sessions in the winter turned into training sessions in the spring, the Dynamos started to come together, slowly but surely. Younger players started to discover their roles, senior and junior leaders started to take them under their wings and the Dynamos discovered their work was paying off.

Their 7-3 record and 34 goals scored through 10 games are prime examples of just how far they’ve come.

“I credit a lot of it to the offseason workouts,” Liberati said. “They were there very often, and they came with the mentality that they wanted to learn. They had the ‘I want to come here, I want to learn’ mentality, and if you have that mentality, you’re going to see a lot more success than having a different mentality.”

The Dynamos started the year with four straight wins, taking down Freedom (3-2), St. Joseph (11-0), Jeannette (1-0) and Riverview (3-1). While it takes time for players to come together, Liberati and his staff, which consists of Mario’s brother, Roman, and cousin, Sean Abraham, made a few moves that have paid off.

Junior Alex Wylly, who played center back last year, moved to striker and leads the team with 12 goals.

Junior Christian Stresky took over in goal after the graduation of Noah Skaugen and has allowed 10 goals and notched three shutouts.

“His development has just been amazing to watch,” Liberati said of Stresky. “From last season to now, it’s been tenfold. It’s awesome. He’s somebody that we can rely on and count on to make big saves.”

The back line of seniors Nate DiLeo, Ben Spencer and Casey Dale and sophomore Levi Bennett has risen to the occasion in front of Stresky.

Senior Brennan Mattie has continued to control the middle of the field alongside his younger brother Mason, who has 10 goals and 11 assists, and freshman Liam Whitemore.

“For us, it was finding the pieces that work well together and identifying which combinations work well together,” Liberati said. “Truthfully, I think it takes almost half a season to really figure out what works and what doesn’t. So, now that we are on the back half of our schedule, I think we’ve kind of figured out the way forward through the last month of the season and into playoff time.”

The Dynamos have learned more about themselves in the process. After their 4-0 start, the Dynamos held a 1-0 lead against Class 2A Freeport before losing 2-1. Five days later, they were tied with Winchester Thurston 0-0 at halftime but lost 2-0.

Their third loss of the season came earlier this week against Class 4A Gateway, 2-0. But, in each instance, the Dynamos were able to learn something: how to hold a lead, how to play against a faster team, how to battle against a perennial powerhouse.

“Playing those matches has been really good for us as a team to learn,” Liberati said. “I feel like you almost have to lose to a good team in order to learn. I feel like there has to be some type of adversity that your team faces where you have to come out on the other side of and be better. I feel like we have.”

Now, the goal for the Dynamos is to keep working, keep learning and continue to come together. They’ll be able to do so at the safe confines of their home field. After playing their first six games on the road, the Dynamos play six of their final seven games at home and are looking to take advantage of it.

They are first in Section 4-A with four section games remaining, including a matchup against Winchester Thurston.

“It’s just keeping the guys together and keeping them working together. Rising above and increasing our level of intensity and increasing our level of mental focus,” Liberati said. “Doing everything we can to make a run in this last month or so of the season to put ourselves in a really good position to compete once the tournament starts. We have to get there first, but getting in and seeing what we can do as a group.”

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

Tags: Springdale