NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – Westminster College men's and women's soccer teams will commence the campaign this weekend with a 5-team tournament.
Saturday will see a quartet of matches. In men's play Thiel will meet Pitt-Bradford in a noon kickoff, while the quadruple-header will conclude at 7 p.m. with Westminster facing Juniata. Those matches will sandwich a pair of women's contests, including Ohio Wesleyan vs. Penn State-Altoona at 2:30 p.m. and Westminster vs. Juniata at 5 p.m.
Sunday's slate starts at 1 p.m. with Thiel meeting Juniata in a men's match, followed by a 3:30 p.m. tilt between the Westminster and Ohio Wesleyan women. The tripleheader closes at 6 p.m. with Westminster's men taking on Pitt-Bradford.
Regarding Westminster's men, veteran Head Coach Girish Thakar said regarding the 2022 season, "We'll have a very competitive team. Expectations are to do well.
There are some very good teams. Eight of the ten teams in our (Presidents' Athletic) conference all have a shot at making the playoffs. It just depends on how the ball bounces during the season. … Once you get to the playoffs it's sudden-death, and anything can happen.
"Last year Bethany won our (men's) conference title in terms of the tournament. They entered as the fifth seed and ended up making a run and won three in-a-row and won the championship game. So it shows that anything can happen on a given day once you get to the playoffs," Thakar continued.
The coming campaign will mark the quarter-century mark at the Westminster men's helm for Thakar, while the 2022 women's team will be his 21st. He has guided Westminster soccer squads to an aggregate 490-313-74 (55.8%) won-lost ledger.
Westminster will be led by graduate students in forward and captain Tyler Catarino (Monessen, Pa./Monessen HIgh), forward Marc Esqueda (San Bruno, Calif./Junipero Serra High), defender Noah Weiss (South Park, Pa./South Park High), and midfielder Mike Roman (Norristown, Pa./Germantown Academy).
Julia Redilla (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley High), a senior midfielder who scored a Titans' team-high 16 goals (plus 4 assists for 36 points) will lead Westminster's women, as will sophomore forwards Brooke Horvath (McMurry, Pa./Franklin Regional), who amassed 35 points on a dozen goals and 11 assists, and Allie Augustine (Cortland, Ohio/Lakeview High), who contributed 25 points. Junior Sophia Galietta (Bethel Park, Pa., Bethel Park High) will lead the back-line defense.
Redilla was a 2021 First-Team All-PAC selection, as was Horvath – the PAC Newcomer of the Year – while Galietta and Augustine were accorded Second-Team and Honorable-Mention honors, respectively.
Westminster was the preseason pick of PAC coaches to win the 2022 crown. Westminster women went 16-3-1 (9-0 PAC), while midseason injuries crippled the men's team's defensive depth as Westminster 12-9 (7-2 PAC).
