Mt. Pleasant passes test against Avonworth in girls WPIAL playoff soccer win

By: Jason Black
Tuesday, October 21, 2025 | 10:00 PM

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Three years ago, the Avonworth girls soccer team denied Mt. Pleasant a WPIAL title by defeating the Vikings, 2-1, in the district title game.

Fast forward to 2025, and the Vikings are hoping a tough first-round match with the Antelopes will be a springboard to a big postseason run, especially for the nine seniors who were freshmen on the 2022 WPIAL runner-up squad.

Two of those seniors, Morgan Gesinski and Laurel Rummel, had a huge hand in helping the fourth-seeded Vikings pull out a hard-fought 2-0 win over the 13th-seeded Antelopes in the first round of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs Tuesday at Mt. Pleasant High School.

“Our seniors have been targeting this since they were freshmen,” Mt. Pleasant coach Rich Garland said.

Mt. Pleasant’s season has ended in the quarterfinals in each of the past two seasons, but Garland is hopeful this first-round contest will help the Vikings be more mentally and physically prepared for the quarterfinals.

“Avonworth is a great squad, and this is a quality win for us,” Garland said. “And this gives us an opportunity to look at things and make some corrections.”

Avonworth (9-9-1) gave Mt. Pleasant (14-4-1) all it could handle and held a territorial advantage for large chunks of the first half.

An early save by Rummel kept the match scoreless, and it didn’t take long for the Vikings to transition the other way and capitalize on a play in front.

After the Vikings worked the ball up the field, Addison Cole found a soft area in the slot and drilled a shot past Avonworth keeper Gianna D’Augostine to put Mt. Pleasant up 1-0 less than seven minutes into the match.

The Vikings threatened to extend the lead later in the half, but D’Augostine made a stop on Camryn Kapr coming down the left wing to keep it a one-goal game.

Entering the second half, the Antelopes again pushed the pace, but Rummel stood tall.

The Mt. Pleasant keeper leaped to make a fingertip save on a hard line drive free kick from 30 yards out approximately four minutes into the second half.

Then the Antelopes had their best scoring chance of the match with 29 minutes remaining as Megan Obersteiner was able to get a step on the Mt. Pleasant defense and had a clear look at the cage. However, Obersteiner’s low liner was stopped by Rummel, who made a diving save to her left to preserve Mt. Pleasant’s one-goal lead.

“Laurel has been tested, and she performs well in big games, and it’s something she’s always done,” Garland said.

With the match still very much in doubt, Gesinski helped Viking fans breathe a bit easier by scoring a highlight reel marker.

With a little more than 17 minutes remaining, Gesinski picked up a ball in the attacking zone and made a quick little move around an Avonworth defender, which allowed her to streak down the left side. Gesinski then ripped a shot that clanged off the far post and into the cage to give the Vikings the two-goal edge.

“Morgan is a special player, and it was great to see her put that one in,” Garland said.

With the two-goal lead on their side, the Vikings were able to shut down Avonworth’s attack.

Mt. Pleasant can now turn its attention to the quarterfinals, which are scheduled for Saturday.

Tags: Avonworth, Mt. Pleasant