Pine-Richland boys counting soccer savvy to get back to playoffs

By: Jerin Steele
Sunday, August 25, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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After reaching the summit of WPIAL Class 4A boys soccer in 2022, Pine-Richland went into its title defense with a much younger group and narrowly missed out on the postseason.

But Rams coach Jordan Wiegand looks at the positives that came from it, which included gaining experience in one of the most daunting sections in Western Pennsylvania.

That experience coupled with a savviness already baked into the players has him optimistic that they’ll be competitive once again.

“I’d say we’re fielding a team this year that has a lot of soccer IQ and desire to take their games to the next level,” Wiegand said. “Not that we haven’t had that before, but this group is definitely special. It’ll be another balance between our older guys steering the ship and our younger guys contributing as well. We are excited to get some games under our belt and see what we have. We have technical ability all over the place and are ready to see a style of play come to life.”

Weigand is also coaching the Rams girls soccer team this fall for the first time, so he’ll be doing a rare coaching double. He’s entering his fifth season coaching the boys team.

The Rams return five full-time starters, but also have other players like Trent Ricchiuto and Ryan Cashman that saw significant playing time as sophomores.

Finn Kichi, Jordan Crutchfield, Sammy Beuse, Brady Baker and Matthew Koss are the returning starters.

Koss, Kichi and Baker are the team captains.

Kichi, Crutchfield and Beuse make up the forward group, while Baker is the linchpin in the midfield and Koss anchors the back line.

Kichi and Baker are seniors, but the rest of the aforementioned players are underclassmen.

“We have guys that got a lot of varsity time as sophomores last year,” Wiegand said. “Unfortunately, as sophomores, it can be a little bit of a challenge to break lines and move forward playing against guys that are two years older than you. They’ve definitely matured, and you can see a difference in their play. That will allow us to hopefully get some more goals this year.”

Standout goalkeeper Cadan Bennett graduated, leaving a spot to fill in the net. Four players — juniors Rodolfo Ramirez, Mason Scott, Brody Kirik and sophomore Jackson Dutton — are vying to earn the starting job.

“We put four on the roster, because we felt all four deserved to push each other, especially with all of these (nonsection) matches coming up to see who would go in front of the other,” Weigand said.

Class 4A is split into three sections opposed to two in the last cycle, but Pine-Richland has similar opponents in Butler, Fox Chapel, North Allegheny, North Hills and Seneca Valley.

“Our section has been, and until I see something different, will be the toughest section in 4A,” Weigand said. “Not to minimize any other opponents, because Norwin won last year and there are some good teams in the south, but as far as the balance goes, there seems to be a cluster at the top of our section. We were in it with North Allegheny twice and Butler twice. Fox Chapel and Seneca Valley were the only ones that got away from us a bit, but we weren’t far off.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Pine-Richland