High-scoring Riverview girls soccer ready for rivalry matchup with No. 1 Springdale

By: Michael Love
Sunday, September 17, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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The Riverview girls soccer team couldn’t ask for a bigger opportunity Thursday evening under the lights at Riverside Park.

The Raiders, who have jumped out to a 4-1 record in Section 1-A play, will face rival Springdale, the No. 1 team in the Trib HSSN Class A rankings and last year’s WPIAL runner-up.

It is part of the annual homecoming series of games involving the soccer and football teams.

The Riverview and Springdale girls will play at 6 p.m. followed by the Raiders boys team against Springdale at 8 p.m.

“The girls are super excited for this game,” Riverview girls coach Sean Abraham said.

“Everyone knows what Springdale brings. They have talent all over the place. The girls are ready to play them. We have stressed to them that when it is time to play the game, they have to shut a lot of other stuff out and focus on playing the way we know they are capable. It should be a fun game.”

The football team hosts Frazier at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Riverview girls started the season with a tough 4-3 section loss to Greensburg Central Catholic. But since then, the Raiders rolled through the rest of the section and also nonsection Carlynton, outscoring its opponents by a combined 47-2 in five victories.

Senior Lola Abraham scored her 100th and 101st goals of her varsity career in the game against GCC, and she stood at 20 goals with seven assists through six games.

Junior Cailey Trosch owned eight goals, while freshmen Mary Quinlan posted seven goals and nine assists in her varsity debut.

Fellow freshman Hannah Hudack also has sparked the team with five goals and four assists.

“We had an idea that we could do something like what we’ve been doing,” Abraham said.

“There are several girls who are strong players and who played on club teams other than the just high school team. It’s been good. The girls have mixed their talents well. To score 50 goals in six games, that is impressive.

“We’ve touched upon the fact that while we’ve started well, at any given time, it could change. There are some big challenges ahead. The girls know that they can’t rest on past accomplishments or victories. There’s a lot of work still to do.”

Riverview was to test themselves with nonsection matchups with Class 3A Armstrong and Class 2A Apollo-Ridge in the days leading up to the matchup with Springdale.

The rematch with Greensburg Central Catholic looms on Monday. The Centurions’ lone loss through their first four games was a 3-0 setback to Springdale on Aug. 30.

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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