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As Letter of Intent Day approaches, local soccer HS seniors finalize college choices

On Wednesday, many local high school senior soccer players will be signing National Letters of Intent and formally announcing their college intentions.
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds’ Development Academy (RDA), which was founded in 2007 and began fielding competitive teams in 2010, will be hosting a Signing Day for the third year at Highmark Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Of course, NLI Day is not limited to the RDA and over the course of the next few days and up through Wednesday, I’ll be adding more names to the list and will also be following the announcements of the local Division I college teams like Pitt, Duquesne and Robert Morris as they reveal their 2018 recruiting classes. Since it’s hard to keep up with each and every commitment, the list being shared here includes those that have been provided by local coaches, clubs and in some cases the student-athletes/parents themselves.
Maybe the most newsworthy development as Pittsburgh Soccer Report has been assembling the list of commitments comes from Delaney Snyder – an all-State selection and captain of back-to-back WPIAL/PIAA 3A girls championship teams at Moon, apparently changed her school of choice, from Miami (OH), to University of Louisville.


Players from Norwin’s girls PIAA 4A champion squad are also well represented with six players from the RDA list.
If you know of any local players that will be announcing college soccer commitments, feel free to contact Pittsburgh Soccer Report (pghsoccerreport@gmail.com) or private message me on our Facebook or pghsoccerscribe Twitter account.
 

PITTSBURGH AREA SOCCER COLLEGE COMMITS

Below is our list of players that we know of that will be making their college commitments.
This list is only partial, and we’ll continue to update this list through Wednesday and as additional updates and commitments are made.
 

Girls:

Britney Adrian (PFC/Blackhawk) – Point Park University               
Emily Arnold (RDA / Norwin) – Slippery Rock University
Emily Burke (RDA / Southeast) – Georgia State University
Ella Copich (PFC/Allderdice) – Case Western Reserve
Katy Ericson (RDA / Norwin) – Slippery Rock University
Bailey Farabaugh (RDA / Bethel Park) – Robert Morris University
Marissa Fiala (RDA / Laurel Highlands) – Clarion University
Haley Frizzel  (PFC/ Ringgold) – Waynesburg College
Emily Harrigan (RDA / Norwin) – Rutgers University
Autumn Heinemen (PFC/South Fayette) – Penn State Behrend
Tia Horew – (PFC/Chartiers Valley) – Point Park University
Haley Huber (PFC/Baldwin) – Penn State Behrend
Sophia Hudson (Century / Franklin Regional) – Lafayette College
Courtney Hurey (RDA / West Allegheny) – Robert Morris University
Kristi Kania (RDA / Moon Area) – Miami (Ohio) University
Alexis Kendro (RDA / Norwin) – Duquesne University
Maryn Mathews  (PFC) – La Roche College
Brenna McGuire (PFC/South Fayette) – Penn State Behrend
Jordan Mehalko (PFC/Bethel Park) – Allegheny College
Jordyn Minda (RDA / South Park) – Slippery Rock University
Lyndsee Monac (RDA / New Brighton) – University of Southern Indiana
Hannah Nguyen (RDA / Penn-Trafford) – Duquesne University
Carly Pcholinsky (RDA / South Park) – Akron University
Michelina Rush (Arsenal / Norwin) – Baldwin Wallace
Lauren Schultz (RDA / Wheeling Park) – University of Memphis
Delaney Snyder (RDA / Moon Area) – University of Louisville
Alyssa Victor (RDA / Norwin) – Duquesne University
Sydney Ward (RDA / Greensburg Central Catholic) – University of Akron
Samantha Wexell (RDA / Norwin) – Ohio University
Madison Whipple (Century / Canon McMillan)- Penn State Behrend
Maggie Williams (RDA / Mars Area) – Grove City College
Jessica Wilhelm (Century / Mt. Lebanon) – Elon

Boys:

Sean Atwater (Steel Town Magic / North Allegheny) – Case Western
Jimmy Boyle (Arsenal / Chartiers Valley) – Westminster College
Logan Brinsky (Century / Peters Twp) – PSU Behrend
Ameer Caprini (Steel Town Magic / Ambridge) – Slippery Rock
Dylan Carter (formerly Beadling / RDA /Moon) – Westminster College
David Connelly (Century / Bethel Park) – Seton Hill
Devin Diluca (Chartiers Valley)  – Penn State University Beaver
Josh DiMatteo (Beadling and previously North United / Chartiers Valley) – West Virginia
Christian Egan  (Century /Ringgold) – Mt. Union
Dom Galietta – (Century / Bethel Park) – Colgate
Christian Giannetti (Steel Town Magic / North Allegheny) – Grove City
Grant Glorioso (Steel Town Magic / North Allegheny) – Gardner Webb
Nate Graziani (Beadling / West Allegheny) – Robert Morris University
Luke Greenway – (Century) – Grove City
Mike Gemmell – (Century / Central Catholic) – Washington University, St. Louis
Zach Guidry – (Century / Franklin Regional) – PSU Behrend
Anthony Harding (RDA / Norwin) – Penn State University
Jakob Dunn (RDA / Fox Chapel) – Case Western Reserve
Nolan Hutter (Steel Town Magic / Montour) Dayton
Jake Jashinski (Arsenal / Shaler) – St Bonaventure
Colin Joyner (Arsenal / Kiski Area) – Geneva College
Luke Kelly (Century / Peters Twp) – Duquesne University 
Josh Konkus (Arsenal / Penn-Trafford) – Geneva College
Sean Korpics (Century / Upper St. Clair) – Duquesne University 
Jake Kosuda (West Mifflin) – Penn State University Beaver
Josh Luchini (Steel Town Magic / North Allegheny) – Lehigh University
Zach Marzula (Steel Town Magic / North Allegheny) – Westminster
Jonah Moore  (Century / Canon McMillan) – University of Chicago
Austin Oleksak  (Pittsburgh FC– St. Vincent College
Jake Plumb (Steel Town Magic / Moon) – Robert Morris
Conner Rapp (RDA / Laurel Highlands) – York College of Pennsylvania
Danny Schearer  (Century / Central Catholic) -Slippery Rock
Nate Taylor (Pittsburgh FC  & KO United)/ Keystone Oaks) – Westminster College
Ian Thomas (Steel Town Magic / Obama) – Carnegie Mellon
Mario Ulizzi (Arsenal / Montour) – California University of PA
Tyler VanKirk (West Mifflin) – Penn State University Beaver
Alex Vilcheck  (Century / Yough) – Slippery Rock
Nick Williams (Steel Town Magic / North Allegheny) – Manhattanville
Among some players still undecided: Bryce Gabelhart (Steel Town Magic / Peters Twp), Darryl Daniels (Seton La Salle), Landon Grant (Steel Town Magic / Quaker Valley).
In other commitment news, Nathan Dragisich, a junior at West Allegheny High School and a member of the RDA 2001 boys team, has also announced he’s made a verbal commitment to Duquesne.
MORE ABOUT NLI
The NLI is a voluntary program with regard to both institutions and student-athletes. No prospective student-athlete or parent is required to sign the NLI and no institution is required to join the program.
The NLI is a binding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an NLI member institution.

  • A prospective student-athlete agrees to attend the institution full-time for one academic year (two semesters or three quarters).
  • The institution agrees to provide athletics financial aid for one academic year (two semesters or three quarters).

The penalty for not fulfilling the NLI agreement: A student-athlete has to serve one year in residence (full-time, two semesters or three quarters) at the next NLI member institution and lose one season of competition in all sports.
An important provision of the NLI program is a recruiting prohibition applied after a prospective student-athlete signs the NLI. This prohibition requires member institutions to cease recruitment of a prospective student-athlete once an NLI is signed with another institution.
The NCAA manages the daily operations of the NLI program while the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) provides governance oversight of the program. Started in 1964 with seven conferences and eight independent institutions, the program now includes 650 Division I and Division II participating institutions.
 

John Krysinsky has covered soccer and other sports for many years for various publications and media outlets. He is also author of 'Miracle on the Mon' -- a book about the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, which chronicles the club, particularly the early years of Highmark Stadium with the narrative leading up to and centered around a remarkable match that helped provide a spark for the franchise. John has covered sports for Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, DK Pittsburgh Sports, Pittsburgh Sports Report, has served as color commentator on Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC broadcasts, and worked with OPTA Stats and broadcast teams for US Open Cup and International Champions Cup matches held in the US. Krysinsky also served as the Head Men’s Soccer Coach at his alma mater, Point Park University, where he led the Pioneers to the first-ever winning seasons and playoff berths (1996-98); head coach of North Catholic boys (2007-08), associate head coach of Shady Side Academy boys (2009-2014).

Glory on the Grass

Riverhounds MF Kenardo Forbes

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