Mt. Pleasant girls soccer team continues to roll with 3-0 win over Deer Lakes
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Monday, September 29, 2025 | 10:07 PM
Mt. Pleasant’s Morgan Gesinski gets past Deer Lakes’ Adi Gally on Monday at Mt. Pleasant Area High School.
Deer Lakes’ Cadence Drum puts a move on Mt. Pleasant’s Addison Czekaj on Monday at Mt. Pleasant Area High School.
Mt. Pleasant’s Raygan Mizikar heads the ball away from Deer Lakes’ Abby Kushon on Monday at Mt. Pleasant Area High School.
Mt. Pleasant’s Camryn Kapr and Deer Lakes’ Brooke Cacurak fight for the ball Monday at Mt. Pleasant Area High School.
Mt. Pleasant’s Morgan Gesinski celebrates the second of her two goals against Deer Lakes on Monday.
Mt. Pleasant’s Morgan Gesinski takes a shot that beats Deer Lakes keeper Mikayla Potter on Monday.
Deer Lakes’ Adi Gally gets a pass past Mt. Pleasant’s Camryn Kapr on Monday.
Mt. Pleasant’s Camryn Kapr and Deer Lakes’ Brooke Cacurak fight for the ball Monday.
Deer Lakes’s Adi Gally gets a pass past Mt. Pleasant’s Aby Kushon on Monday.
Mt. Pleasant’s Morgan Gesinski fights past Deer Lakes’ Josie Buchanon on Monday.
Mt. Pleasant’s Addison Czekaj fights for the ball with Deer Lakes’ Adi Gally on Monday.
Mt. Pleasant girls soccer coach Rich Garland called it his team’s best effort of the season.
He will get no argument from Deer Lakes.
The fourth-ranked Lady Vikings rang up their 10th shutout of the season and stayed on track for a Section 4-2A title with a 3-0 victory over the visiting Lancers on Monday night at Viking Stadium.
Like one of the borough’s patented late-summer sunsets, Mt. Pleasant’s effort was vibrant and serene in a battle of playoff teams.
Morgan Gesinski powered the offense with two goals and an assist, and goalkeeper Laurel Rummel notched the 52nd shutout of her career for Mt. Pleasant (10-3-1, 7-0), which rebounded nicely from a 1-0 loss to No. 5 Freeport over the weekend.
Camryn Kapr and Sophia Coppula each had an assist for Mt. Pleasant.
Deer Lakes (10-2, 5-2) was limited to one shot on goal. Both of the Lancers’ losses are to Mt. Pleasant.
“We came together as a team and realized we can do something special here,” said Gesinski, a Robert Morris commit. “We know we can win a section title. From our back line to our front line, we played well. Everything started with our defense.”
Deer Lakes had a five-game winning streak halted.
Both teams have surrendered just eight goals all season. Five allowed by Deer Lakes, though, have been scored by Mt. Pleasant.
In this match, the Lady Vikings profited from turnovers.
“We wanted to bring big pressure and put pressure deep in their end,” Garland said. “When teams are under pressure, you can create mistakes.”
Deer Lakes lost 2-1 to the Lady Vikings earlier in the season.
“We didn’t execute,” Lancers coach Frank Accetta said. “When we play Mt. Pleasant, we want to get the ball down the line early. We talked about what we needed to do, but it was like we forgot the game plan.”
All three goals in the team’s earlier game were scored off of corner kicks. All three from Mt. Pleasant came in the run of play in the rematch.
Addison Czekaj opened the scoring in the 13th minute, giving the Lady Vikings leverage and breaking the ice of a playoff-like matchup. She sent a left-footed shot wide of Lancers keeper MaKaylah Potter for a 1-0 lead.
After ramming a well-struck shot off the football crossbar earlier, Gesinski gave the Lady Vikings a two-goal edge in the 36th minute with another wide chip into the same spot where Czekaj scored.
Allowing Gesinski to possess the ball deep in the final third is a mistake from which few teams can recover.
“She can take over a game,” Accetta said. “There is a reason she is Division I.”
Gesinski, who had a number of quality chances in the second half, capped the scoring in the 54th minute. She dribbled around a defender — and three others who were closing in — and sent a 10-yard, looping shot top shelf over the outstretched hand of Potter to make it 3-0.
“You have to be ready,” Gesinski said. “One step ahead.”
Garland has watched Gesinski blossom into one of the WPIAL’s better scorers in the four years he has coached her, yet she still finds ways to impress him.
“She was very creative tonight in the attacking third,” Garland said. “I was really happy with how we responded from the loss to Freeport. With a playoff team, you want to prepare and build so you’re ready to go in mid-October.”
Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.
Tags: Deer Lakes, Mt. Pleasant
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