Mt. Pleasant girls soccer in semifinals for 1st time in 3 years

By: Ted Sarneso
Monday, October 27, 2025 | 6:01 AM

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On Saturday, the Mt. Pleasant girls soccer team was finally able to clear a hurdle that has eluded them the last two years.

The No. 4-seeded Vikings (14-4-1) defeated No. 12 Shady Side Academy, 2-1, to secure a quarterfinal win in the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs and advance to the semifinals.

It was the third consecutive year Mt. Pleasant was the home team, but it was just their first win in that time frame.

“I can’t say that we weren’t prepared those last two years, we were just outplayed,” coach Rich Garland said. “It was evident in our win over Shady Side from the first whistle that we weren’t going to be outplayed. We came to play on Saturday. It was just a different attitude.”

Mt. Pleasant, which finished first in Section 4-2A and beat No. 13 Avonworth, 2-0, in the opening round, has had that different attitude all season; Garland attributes it to his team facing more challenges this year than in past seasons.

“We overcame a little bit of adversity early on, which is something we haven’t had to face a lot over the last four years,” Garland said. “I’ve been extremely happy with the way our girls have responded. The first few games, we really weren’t playing as a team, but after our loss to Freeport, the girls began to jell.”

Added senior goalkeeper Laurel Rummel: “We have some pretty good team chemistry right now. We’re all friends off the field, and that’s something that translates on the field and has helped us get things together.”

Rummel also highlighted the team’s season-opening win over Class 3A opponent West Allegheny as a boost to the team’s confidence.

“Our win against West Allegheny gave us the confidence to believe that as long as we continued to play well, we can go as far as possible,” Rummel said. “That win pulled us together, but then wins against section opponents Deer Lakes and Yough only solidified that belief.”

Mt. Pleasant will look to maintain that belief after clearing the quarterfinal hurdle for the first time in three years because it will go up against a personal bogeyman.

The Vikings will square off against No. 8-seeded Burrell (11-6-2), which knocked off top-seeded, and previously undefeated, South Park, 1-0, on Saturday to advance. The Bucs also defeated No. 9 Belle Vernon, 1-0, in the first round.

The Bucs, who finished third in Section 2-2A, were the team who knocked out the Vikings in the quarterfinal round the last two seasons. They came away with a 4-0 win last year and a 2-1 overtime win in 2023. Both times Burrell was the lower seed.

“It’s big for our group to get this deep into the playoffs, make it to the semifinals and face a team like Burrell for a chance at the big one,” Garland said. “This senior group were freshmen the last time we made it this far and they’re hungry for it.”

Burrell’s dominance over Mt. Pleasant in the playoffs extends beyond the last two seasons. The Bucs have a four-game playoff win streak against the Vikings, sending them home in the first round in 2019 and 2020.

“This senior group has really thought about the last two years and how those losses hurt us,” said Mt. Pleasant senior forward Morgan Gesinski, who leads the team with 30 goals.

The teams squared off Aug. 25 and played to a scoreless stalemate after two overtimes.

“We believe we can win as long as we play our game, play as a team and keep up that team chemistry,” Gesinski said. “That will give us the best chance to make the finals.”

It’s Mt. Pleasant’s first trip to the semifinals since 2022, when it made it all the way to the championship game before losing to Avonworth.

Both the Bucs and Vikings are familiar with each other, and that’s why Garland knows it won’t be an easy task for his team to pull out a victory.

“Burrell’s a quality opponent, they like to move the ball around a lot, keep it on the deck,” Garland said. “We’ll have our hands full.”

The teams square off at 6 pm Tuesday at Gateway’s Antimarino Stadium.

Tags: Mt. Pleasant