With renovations complete, Chartiers Valley soccer teams happy to be home

By: Ted Sarneso
Sunday, August 24, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

After spending the past couple of years in the wilderness due to field renovations, the Chartiers Valley boys and girls soccer teams are glad they can finally play and practice on their home turf.

“The construction created so many challenges with us as far as busing players to another field, which ended up being taxing on the players who would practice and train for an hour or two, then had to add another hour just for transportation,” said new boys coach Bill Douglass.

“It was hard going from one field to another, which meant you never really got comfortable,” added girls coach Dave Zinski. “It’s nice to be back on our own turf and finally get back a true home-field advantage.”

Moving up

Bill Douglass is a familiar face around Chartiers Valley. His coaching journey began at the school in 2004, and he was the girls coach for a stint before he had stops at South Park, Hotspur, Century and Beadling.

He took time away to watch his second child grow up before he got back into coaching, becoming an assistant under Mike Blatz last season. Now, he’s been elevated to head coach of the boys team.

“I’m very excited. It’s an honor to get the position,” Douglass said. “Following guys like Mike Blatz and Garrett MacKenzie that set up a culture that’s built to win, you feel the pressure, but it’s a really good team, and I’m up for the challenge.”

Douglass takes over a team that finished 9-9 overall and in third place in Section 4-3A with a mark of 7-5, made the WPIAL playoffs, and knocked off Indiana in the first round before falling to Mars, 1-0, in a game delayed by lightning.

“The goal they scored skipped on the wet turf,” said Douglass. “Had it been dry, the ball would have bounced right up to our goalkeeper. It was a 50/50 game, and Mars is a really good team, but we hope to make it back to the playoffs and if we play them again, hopefully we get a better result.”

The Colts lost seven seniors from last year, including productive players in Xavier Mwaura, Patrik Jurisic, Garret Ragni and standout John Krug, who is now at Robert Morris.

“You can never make up for losing quality players like John Krug, but we set the standard of next man up,” said Douglass.

The team returns eight of 11 starters and a core anchored by captains Vinny DePietro, Ryan Bogdon and Cole Jankoski, who are all seniors; and junior Luke Waldron, an all-section player a year ago.

Douglass also will be leaning on seniors Zach Knause and Abdullah Baled. Baled had been playing at MLS Next the past few years and returns to finish off his high school career.

“Zach is an outside right wing back and gets to the attack, provides great service of the ball and his fitness and knowledge of the game is what you’re looking for at the position,” said Douglass. “Abdullah has stepped right into the six role for us and was truly a diamond in the rough when it came time for tryouts.”

There are also four new additions to the roster that have Douglass excited for this year: sophomore Aiden Ozbey, freshman Andryian “Andy” Sushko and seniors Kevin Angel and Moises Calzadilla.

Ozbey is a transfer from Central Catholic who Douglass taught in middle school.

“He came out to the Mars game and watched us play,” said Douglass. “He told me that he should have been in that game, playing for us. We’re lucky to have him.”

Angel is from Columbia, and Calzadilla hails from Venezuela and doesn’t speak English. But for a Spanish teacher like Douglass, that’s no issue.

“A lot of the times I’m translating, but it shows the kids that learning another language is important,” said Douglass. “These international players bring a passion and energy that is infectious, and it helps when I look down the bench and know there will be no dropoff in the caliber of player I’m putting on the field.”

In goal, the Colts return Sean Walsh, who started the first half of the season while Evan Cyprowski got up to speed. Now that Cyprowski graduated, Walsh will be the starter and senior Gavin Waldron will be the backup.

“Gavin reached out to me and said he played goalie in middle school and would love to be a part of the team,” Douglass said. “He’s also a terrific golfer for the school, so we’ve worked with him and around his golf schedule.”

The Colts believe they have what they need to make another playoff run. They are gunning for another top three finish in a section that is top heavy with juggernauts Moon, Montour and West Allegheny.

“There’s no room for mistakes, and you have to be up for those games from the opening whistle,” said Douglass. “Their obviously challenging games, but our mentality and expectation is that no matter who we play, they are going to get our best and know that Chartiers Valley plays soccer the right way.”

Growth factor

The 2024 season put a hurting on the Chartiers Valley girls soccer team.

With multiple players missing significant time with injuries and only four freshmen on the team, attrition became a factor that led to a 1-14 season overall and an 0-12 finish in Section 2-3A in the third year under Zinski.

“We knew from year one that this wasn’t going to be an easy turnaround,” Zinski said. “This program was probably neglected as previous coaches didn’t do much with the youth programs and building interest, so we knew it was going to be a rough first few seasons.”

What shone through last year was the positive mindset and attitudes from all the players, which was a credit to last year’s seniors and their holding everyone accountable.

It’s something Zinski hopes gets passed down from each senior class for the next group of kids as the girls program looks to grow.

“They were willing to do whatever it took to be competitive,” Zinski said. “Those seniors knew it would be a struggle, and they were great. It just stunk they didn’t get to win more games at CV.”

To win more games in 2025, the Colts will try to combat the injury bug. Zinski doubled down on strength and conditioning this offseason, offering his players the opportunity to participate in a 6-8-week program at Stride Fitness working a few days a week.

“We bumped up the intensity, took it a step further,” said Zinski. “We did strength and conditioning, speed and agility and those weeks at Stride. Hopefully it helps the girls get bigger, stronger and faster and avoid injury.”

Of those looking to avoid more injuries, senior Kennedy Kuntz returns from an ACL tear her sophomore year. At the time of her injury, she was the team’s leading scorer. She took last year off while recovering.

“She’s one girl that we’re counting on to score goals, bring some leadership,” said Zinski. “She’s a Beadling kid, so she has plenty of playing experience.”

Kuntz is also a team captain alongside fellow senior Sophia Lamatrice and junior Ella Shields, who’s a three-year starter.

“All those girls are going to be important for us,” Zinski said. “They all bring leadership and experience. Hopefully they can help the young girls get adjusted to the speed and physicality of the high school game.”

Other girls returning from injury include junior Jordyn Jones (ACL) and senior goalkeeper Sophia Trosky, who missed time last year with a back injury and played in the field the rest of the year.

“Jordyn is someone we’ll look to come off the bench and get a spot start here and there,” said Zinski. “Sophia’s someone who’s had experience, and we hope she can stay healthy.”

As for the younger Colts, Zinski is excited about sophomore Sloane Timko, who transferred to Chartiers Valley at the end of the soccer season.

“She’s made a pretty big impact,” said Zinski. “We see her jumping into the starting lineup right away. It’s always nice to have a girl come in who you can count on.”

There are also three to four freshmen who Zinski says have a lot of talent and can make an impact this season.

“We’re very young,” Zinski said. “We only have four seniors and seven juniors. The rest of the roster is sophomores and freshmen, but we feel we have a lot of good athletes and soccer players. We’re a bit stronger, faster and more athletic than last year.

“It will be one of those years where a lot of girls are learning on the fly, but they come from good clubs, good programs and they’re used to playing at a high level.”

The Colts will need to stay at a high level as they compete in a challenging section featuring Moon, Montour and West Allegheny at the top. It’s always tough, but Zinski sees an opportunity for his squad.

“After those three teams at the top, you have us, Blackhawk, Trinity and Bethel Park fighting for that last playoff spot,” said Zinski. “That’s what I’ve preached to our girls all offseason. It would be a fun challenge for us to see if we can compete with those teams for a playoff spot.”

Zinski still has the modest goal of having his team get better every day and every practice and hopefully “surprise some teams.”

But the biggest goal is the growth of girls soccer at Chartiers Valley.

Interest has picked up, as nearly 100 girls between kindergarten and eighth grade came out to the youth camps this summer, which was an increase from just 65 the year before.

“We’re excited about the direction this is going,” Zinski said. “Next year we have 12 or 13 eighth graders and we’ll only lose those four seniors. We’re excited about the numbers and what the future looks like.”

Tags: Chartiers Valley