Riverview girls soccer focused on ‘big goals’ after nonsection success

By: Michael Love
Saturday, September 6, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Isabel Chaparro likes what she sees from the Riverview girls soccer team’s early set of games.

The Raiders were 3-0 in nonsection action through a 9-0 victory over Apollo-Ridge last Wednesday at Riverside Park.

Junior midfielder Mary Quinlan tallied a hat trick, giving her a team-best eight goals through three games.

Freshman midfielder/forward Mia Murphy and junior midfielder Hannah Hudack each scored twice, and Chaparro and senior forward Sienna Daley also found the back of the net.

Freshman goalkeeper Maddy Martino got her third win in net.

“It feels good to be off to a really good start,” said Chaparro, a senior defender.

“With getting new coaches in the offseason, that was a big change for us. But I feel we all really bonded well with them and are looking to win a lot of games this year. We have big goals for the playoffs. The chemistry with everyone on the team is very strong”

Riverview entered the season with a mission to reach the WPIAL playoffs for the fifth straight season. The Raiders are two years removed from reaching the WPIAL Class A championship game at Highmark Stadium and the PIAA title game in Mechanicsburg.

Six seniors moved on from the 2024 team which went 12-4 and made the WPIAL quarterfinals.

Jessica Garland, a Franklin Regional graduate and former assistant coach at her alma mater and most recently at Mt. Pleasant, took over in the spring for Sean Abraham who stepped down after eight seasons at the helm.

Garland said the work put in by the players over the summer put them in a good position to do well.

The Raiders got off to a successful start in Section 4-A on Aug. 25 with a 9-1 win over Greensburg Central Catholic behind a hat trick from Murphy in her first varsity game, two goals apiece from Quinlan and Hudack, and one goal from both senior forward Georgia Tsambis and junior defender/midfielder Catie Hoolahan.

Riverview kept it going two days later as it topped Ellis, 5-1. Quinlan scored three times, with Hudack and Hoolahan both getting one past the Ellis keeper.

With the Labor Day weekend extending to Monday, the Raiders didn’t have a game for a full week until the matchup with Apollo-Ridge. But Garland said her team was really putting on display the things they were concentrating on in practice.

“They were connecting passes and communicating well to produce some nice scoring opportunities,” Garland said.

“The girls were really ready to get back out there. The time off did allow us to get some rest and get healthy. As much as we would rather not have that long of a break between games, it was probably good for us.”

With a limited roster of just 14 players, Garland said she stressed to the players from the start that everyone will play a crucial part in the success of the team.

“We are definitely relying on everyone to contribute,” she said. “We’re always working to built that teamwork and that team culture.”

Garland said the team has received a boost from the group of five freshmen.

“They came in with a lot of enthusiasm, and they are always doing what is asked of them,” she said.

“They are willing to learn and try their best. They’ve been a great asset to building this year’s team.”

Martino, Garland said, has proven to be a dependable final line with a veteran group of defenders that include the likes of Chaparro and junior Juliette Brun.

“Maddy has been big for us,” Garland said. “That is not an easy spot to come in to and hold down. But she’s done well in learning and growing into that position. My assistant, Sydney (Caldwell), was a goalkeeper all through college (Seton Hill), so she’s a great one to learn from.”

Garland said this year’s group has shown a great deal of versatility in their positions on the field.

“It has been pretty important to have that,” Garland said.

“We were battling some injuries at the start of the season, and through the scrimmages, we were moving people around and trying to figure out how we could cover for the girls who were out. They were all willing to step in and be where they were needed to help the team.”

Riverview picks up the pace this week with section games at Winchester Thurston and at home with Springdale on Thursday.

“We’re taking it one game at a time and seeing where we are with each game,” Garland said.

“We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. But we’re excited to get more games in and see where we are in the section and what we can do to grow and improve.”

The first matchup with the rival Dynamos is part of the annual varsity night doubleheader under the lights at Riverside Park.

The girls teams will kick off at 6 p.m. with the Riverview and Springdale boys set for 8.

“The girls are really looking forward to it,” Garland said. “Coming from a bigger school where we always played under the lights, it is exciting to see how the girls react to getting that opportunity that is not there all the time.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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