Late-season success breeds optimism in Pine-Richland boys soccer program

By: Shawn Annarelli
Thursday, September 10, 2020 | 10:11 PM

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For all of the growing pains Pine-Richland endured a year ago, the team showed just as much promise during coach Jordan Wiegand’s first season.

The Rams believe they can be contenders, but know they can’t have a slow start like last season’s 1-4 section record, a hole too big to climb out of for a playoff berth.

“We want to make it far in the WPIAL tournament,” senior Will Sangpachatanaruk said. “We feel like last year was a big transition after losing 16 seniors from the previous year and getting a new coach. We’ve had a lot more time, even working around coronavirus, to get more confident in his system.”

Wiegand looked back fondly on last season’s second-half accomplishments, which included a 2-1 win against Seneca Valley, the Section 1-AAAA champions, and a 1-0 win over Fox Chapel, the second-place team.

The Rams were 3-1 in their last four section games, with the loss coming in the last minute of double overtime against North Allegheny, another playoff team.

“We certainly look to build off of those experiences, and I think it’s a tribute to our system and our style and our kids getting more comfortable in it,” Wiegand said. “We may have taken our lumps at times the first time around (the section), and maybe with covid it won’t look pretty for everyone on the field the first time around this season, but I think we’ll build confidence a lot more quickly in the first week or two.”

Pine-Richland will return 10 starters and key contributors from last season, including senior midfielders Philip Kim, Emiliano Gonzalez Sanchez and Sangpachatanaruk. Junior forwards Thomas Cornelius and Justin Bang will also be offensive playmakers this season.

Sangpachatanaruk is the team’s returning scoring leader.

“Will is definitely the star player we need, and he’s versatile in the midfield and up front,” Wiegand said. “He could master any position I throw him into.”

The Rams also get junior Evan Dougal back in net.

Dougal allowed 2.05 goals per game last season and had five shutouts.

“He’s shown a lot of growth in his play and in his communication,” Sangpachatanaruk said. “We have a few younger keepers, and he’s loud leading them through warm-ups. He was a little shy last year, even coming out of the box and shouting for balls. I can hear a big change where he’s a lot more confident controlling the backline and using his voice.”

Sophomore midfielder Cale Klaff and defender Ben Rishel saw the most playing time among freshmen last season, and they are taking on leadership roles, Wiegand said.

Senior Alex Martinez and junior Zach Palko, who played forward last season, will join Rishel in the backfield.

“Taking over a group last year that lacked a lot of experience at the varsity level was something that can hurt a team, especially playing in AAAA, and our conference is brutal to say the least,” Wiegand said. “They gained a lot of experience, and they’ve also had that extra time with me to build relationships. We can use that to our advantage now, and that’s why there’s a lot of excitement built up around our program.”

Tags: Pine-Richland