Riverview girls soccer hopes to maintain winning formula

By: Michael Love
Saturday, August 26, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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The Riverview girls soccer team is after a playoff three-peat.

After the frustration of not having enough players to field a team in 2020, the Raiders have enjoyed a resurgence in the program.

That growth has produced back-to-back WPIAL playoff berths in Class A.

Junior midfielder/forward Cailey Trosch, one of several returning starters on the 17-player roster this season, feels that a third consecutive trip is there for the taking.

“I think we really improved on working well as a team last year,” said Trosch, who contributed a goal and three assists a season ago.

“I felt that I broke though with my game last year and was more confident with my skills with the ball, and I was better conditioned for games. I think a lot of the girls on the team saw big improvements last year. We are excited to see the work we did in the offseason and how it will help us in the season.”

Riverview, with a six-player senior class, went 8-8 overall last year and finished tied with Serra Catholic in Section 1 play. The Raiders and Eagles split their season series.

Chartiers-Houston, the No. 4 seed, sent No. 13 Riverview to an 8-1 season-ending defeat in the WPIAL first round.

“With the roster numbers, it gives us the six subs, and bench-wise, we have some depth. I think they can step in and do what they need to do,” Riverview coach Sean Abraham said.

“At some point, everyone is going to get their number called, so I stress to them to be ready to go.”

Riverview is young, as captains Georgia Tsambis, a defender and midfielder, and Lola Abraham, a forward, are the only two seniors.

Abraham, also a mainstay in the Riverhounds developmental program and a Pitt commit, stood just one goal away from 100 in her varsity career entering Monday afternoon’s Section 1 opener against 2022 section runner-up Greensburg Central Catholic at Riverside Park in Oakmont.

Abraham scored 56 goals last season, one of the top totals in all of the WPIAL, and she earned her second All-WPIAL honor in as many seasons.

She said that while she understands she is the go-to player in terms of goals for the team, she feels that there are plenty of players in the offense who can put the ball in the back of the net.

“If a lot of teams’ game plan is to mark me and even double or triple team me, there are a lot of good scorers on this team, including incoming freshmen,” Abraham said.

“We know that to be successful, we have to work as a team. We’ve seen that happen in practices. We’ve made so much progress as a team from two years ago.”

The Abrahams, coach and player, and others were able to get a good look at where they stood heading into the season with scrimmages against East Allegheny (Aug. 21) and Butler (Aug. 24).

“From the East Allegheny scrimmage, the ball movement all over the field, whether it was from our back line trying to suck the other team in so we could play out or in the offensive part of the field where we were moving and setting up plays, it helped create so many shot opportunities,” Lola Abraham said.

“As we go further and get into games, that is going to help us with our confidence to know that we can finish plays and score goals. It is great to see.”

Coach Abraham said he was happy to be able to schedule a scrimmage against a bigger school and program like Butler which tied Pine-Richland for third in Section 1-4A last year.

Junior goalkeeper Chiara Brun returns to the team after studying in Belgium last fall.

She kept sharp while playing on a club team in Brussels. She said she’s excited to be back playing for Riverview and excited to share the field with her sister, freshman goalkeeper Juliette Brun.

“It feels so good to be back playing with the girls I have played with for so long and know so well,” Chiara Brun said.

“We are really playing well as a team right now. Everyone understands their role on the team.”

The sisters are expected to share keeper duties. When one is not in net, she will provide depth in the backfield.

“There’s always been a lot of competition between us,” Chiara Brun said.

“We’re just over a year apart in age, so we’ve always been doing the same things and been on similar teams. We are both pushing each other during training to be better. We want each other to be the best version of the goalie or defender as we can. It’s really healthy competition.”

The game with GCC on Monday gets Riverview immediately into section play.

Springdale edged GCC by one game for the 2022 Section 1 title. The Dynamos suffered a loss to Freedom in the WPIAL Class A title game at Highmark Stadium.

They blanked District 10 champion Mercyhurst Prep in the PIAA first round before falling to GCC, 3-1, in the quarterfinals.

Seton LaSalle finished third in the section and also earned a spot in the playoffs.

Riverview was slated to face Seton LaSalle on Wednesday. The Raiders are to host Valley on Friday at Riverside Park at 4:15 p.m.

“We’ve been building each year since the covid year, and the girls want to keep everything going,” coach Abraham said.

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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