Mt. Pleasant boys soccer cruises in shutout of Southmoreland

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Tuesday, September 16, 2025 | 10:04 PM

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Mt. Pleasant boys soccer players lined up after Tuesday’s game to sign autographs for youth players, a customary conclusion to recreation league night at Viking Stadium.

Sophomore forward Tyke Snyder had already put his signature on a 7-0 victory over Southmoreland in what the Vikings like to call the “Route 819 Derby.”

Snyder had three goals and two assists, and junior midfielder Lukas Showman added two goals as the section-­leading Vikings started fast and blanked the neighboring Scotties in a Section 4-2A game at Viking Stadium.

For Mt. Pleasant (7-2, 6-0), the game was about taking care of business against the Scotties (4-4, 3-2) while also doing some fine-tuning for Thursday’s game against Charleroi (6-2, 5-0), another front-runner in the section.

“Last year the game before Charleroi we came out and lost to Waynesburg, 1-0,” Snyder said. “Southmoreland is always circled on the schedule. We wanted to win and keep getting better.”

Looking past Southmoreland, which came in on a four-game winning streak after an 0-3 start, was not an option for Mt. Pleasant, which has outscored teams 38-8 after its fifth shutout of the season.

Early offensive flow saw to that as Mt. Pleasant came out upbeat offensively and weaved goals into a sound defensive game.

“We take a lot of pride in shutouts,” senior defender Damien Ohler said. “We didn’t underestimate Southmoreland. Last year, we got a red card against them.”

Junior Grant Zahrobsky opened the scoring 13 minutes in on a give from Snyder. Two more goals followed, both by Snyder — all three came in a seven-minute span — and it was 3-0 in the 20th minute.

“The boys started to flow better in space,” Mt. Pleasant coach Floyd Snyder said. “We had to be ready for this game and had to be careful. Southmoreland hasn’t beaten us in a while.

“Tyke reads the game really well and gets to his spots. (Sophomore) Bryson (Bankosh) was really good on corners tonight, and Damien (Ohler) and (senior Tyler) Kurtz helped to set the tone.”

Kurtz, Bankosh and sophomore Gavin Rummel each had an assist in the victory.

Showman scored back-to-back goals at 13:08 and 8:56 to give the Vikings a 5-0 lead at halftime.

Out of the break, Snyder got loose and fired in his third score of the night — and eighth of the season — for a 6-0 lead in the 45th minute.

“We learned a lot from last year when we had such a young team,” Tyke Snyder said. “Our composure is better, and we play well together. We want to play every game with a lot of energy and passion.”

The Vikings had nine shots to the Scotties’ two. Sophomore keeper Grayson Gardner saved both.

Junior defender Cayden Pickens was credited with the final goal, which came with 13 minutes remaining.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Mt. Pleasant, Southmoreland