This is a busy and exciting time for a lot of high school seniors who are going to be playing soccer in college — as many have or will be making their decisions recently — in addition to the group that made their announcements on National Signing Day in February.
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds Development Academy announced today, a number of additional players who have made commitments, including Alex Peperak, who has become the first local commitment to the University of Pittsburgh Men’s Soccer program since Jay Vidovich was hired to lead the program in December.
“Alex has the athleticism, footwork, and attitude to play at a high level,” said Under-18 head coach John Rotz.
“We are extremely proud of all of these boys, who committed to the Riverhounds and worked hard to carve out paths to college.”
Peperak led Connellsville High School to the WPIAL playoffs, losing 3-0 to Fox Chapel.
Justin Cole, of Norwin, will join fellow RDA players already heading to play for Robert Morris University — goalkeeper Christian Snatchko and midfielder Corey Cunningham.
Additional commitments from local players from the RDA including: Carlynton forward Manny Burton (The College of Wooster, Ohio); midfielder Jeffrey Kreinbrook (Malone University, Ohio): and Sam Marshall (John Carroll University).
Fox Chapel’s Maggie Coulson, team captain for the Under-18 RDA squad, is headed to Johns Hopkins University in the Fall.
“Maggie is a first-class player, student, and person,” commented Under-18 head coach and Academy Director, Scott Gibson.
“This is a girl who could have gone to a number of programs but was steadfast in finding the perfect balance of soccer and academics, and we are very happy that she has found it in Johns Hopkins.”
In addition, another senior from Riverhounds Development Academy. Samantha Defrancesco will be going to University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown). .
In addition to the seniors, several underclassmen players continued to announce their own verbal commitments over the past few weeks.
Kiski defender Jamie Frank will join RDA teammates Ciara Terabasso from Yough, and Aideen O’Donoghue of Canon-McMillan at NCAA College Cup finalist Rutgers University, while winger Sabrina Bryan, also a Canon-Mac junior, is heading to Long Island to attend Hofstra University in 2017, and Greensburg Central Catholic’s Shannon Salley will head west to the United States Air Force Academy.
Rounding out the recent batch of commitments, includes a pair of Norwin’s 2015 Class AAA WPIAL Champions and sophomores Emily Harrigan, who is also headed to Rutgers and Alyssa Victor, who will be headed to Duquesne University.