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Quaker Valley School District - Home of the Quakers

Quaker Valley Athletics

Quaker Valley School District - Home of the Quakers

Team News.

Team News

3.0 years ago @ 9:01AM

Quaker Valley boys soccer using shortened season as motivation for next year

By:  
Sunday, November 22, 2020 | 11:01 AM


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Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review 

Quaker Valley’s Weston Grant celebrates his second-half goal against Ambridge on Oct. 8.

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This season didn’t end the way the Quaker Valley boys soccer team wanted it to.

After winning WPIAL and PIAA titles last season, the Quakers were motivated to repeat this season. After a solid regular season, where they went 11-1-1 and outscored opponents 114-8, they were ready to head into the postseason on the right foot. But a coronavirus exposure brought their season to a screeching halt and in turn dashed their chances of repeating.

“Our athletic director didn’t hear until like right before the brackets were released,” Quaker Valley coach J.J. Veshio said. “So it was sort of like this anticipation of maybe something will happen and we’ll be able to get in and they’ll move the dates. Then it kind of all hit us at once that it wasn’t going to happen.”

Veshio said that the Quakers normally are able to end the season with a big season wrapup, including a banquet. The Quakers didn’t do any of that this year because of their situation, but they did get together for a few intrasquad scrimmages and were able to bring their season to a close, even though it wasn’t the way they would’ve liked.

“It’s been tough, but once quarantine was over for us, we did like three days in a row of intrasquad games and little tournaments and everything and that was a lot of fun,” Veshio said. “The girls team did that as well, so there was at least some closure to the season, but it wasn’t playing in the playoffs, so it wasn’t the same.”

It was an unfortunate ending for the eight seniors on the Quaker Valley soccer team, but they didn’t finish their careers empty handed as they were a part of teams that won a WPIAL title (2019) and two state championships (2017, 2019).

Although Veshio just became the Quaker Valley coach this season, he’s been around the program long enough to know that the senior class brought a lot to the program.

“As a senior, you never want to go out in a negative way, and even though it was out of their control and that’s what we tried to tell them, ‘Unfortunately this happened to you, but don’t let it reflect negatively on your entire time here,’” Veshio said. “They had four of the best years that any Quaker Valley boys soccer class has had, and that’s saying a lot. They still have these other accomplishments to reflect on, but it’s very hard as a senior.”

For the rest of the Quakers, Veshio said they plan on using how this season ended as motivation to come back even stronger next season. The work for 2021 has already started.

“The guys coming back next year are highly, highly motivated,” Veshio said. “Maybe more so than any group of guys I’ve seen here during my tenure.”

The Quakers have already started playing pick-up and having been trying to play outside as much as they can, weather permitting. They also have already picked their captains picked for next year, and they are going to do whatever they can for indoor training, which Veshio said probably won’t be much due to covid protocols in place.

In the past, Veshio said that the program had a really good schedule in place when it came to weight and speed training, and most of the players would also be playing club soccer on their own time. This offseason may be a little different.

“Right now, we’re not going to do indoor,” Veshio said. “We’ve scheduled two days a week on our field throughout winter, and we’re just going to play. We’re not going to lose time. We can’t afford that again this year.”

Teams can only do so much and accomplish so much during the soccer season that it often comes down to the work that they put in throughout the offseason. No matter the limits that are put in front of them, the Quakers want to do even more next season, and they said they are going to work as hard as they possibly can to accomplish that.

“Our guys want to almost make up for not being in a championship game this year,” Veshio said. “However you do more than you can in a season, they want to try and do more than that next year. Whether it’s wins or who we play, who our nonsection opponents are, records broken, they want to do all of it.”

Although the Quakers are losing a talented senior class, they’ll return five of their top six goal scorers and will be looking to put their name back in the conversation as one of the top teams in Class 2A.

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

 

Team News

3.0 years ago @ 9:15PM

Quaker Valley soccer team — defending WPIAL, state champs — out of playoffs due to COVID-19

MIKE WHITE

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

mwhite@post-gazette.com

The WPIAL released soccer playoff brackets Wednesday afternoon. That’s when the Quaker Valley boys team learned it definitely won’t get a chance to defend its WPIAL and PIAA titles because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Quaker Valley School District announced this past Saturday that all students would move to remote learning through Oct. 30, because of nine COVID-19 cases in the district. The district also shut down all sports activities until Nov. 2.

The Quaker Valley boys team is 11-1-1 this season and might have been the No. 1 seed for Class 2A. Quaker Valley had informed the WPIAL of its shutdown and was hoping the league might consider delaying the Class 2A playoffs until Quaker Valley could play. But the WPIAL set the 2A playoffs to start Monday — without Quaker Valley.

Quaker Valley athletic director Mike Mastroianni knew there was little chance the WPIAL would push back the playoffs. But Quaker Valley didn’t definitely know of its fate until the WPIAL released the playoff brackets.

“All we could do was give them our circumstances of when we would be available and explain the situation,” Mastroianni said. “Obviously on their end, they have certain dates. We were just hoping, because you want to try and do everything possible and see if there was some way we could play. … We let them decide. We appreciate their patience.”

WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman said earlier this week that the league couldn’t delay the playoffs for a week because of one team. Mastroianni said the school is understanding of the WPIAL’s plight, but it didn’t make it any easier for Quaker Valley’s players and coaches.

“You feel absolutely awful for them,” Mastroianni said. “But in the big picture, these are unprecedented times and we have to deal with things and make decisions that are for the kids’ safety, the safety of the school and really the whole community. These are tough decisions, but correct decisions for the world we live in right now.

“In the big picture, a lot of people didn’t even think we would play at all this year.”

The Class 2A field has 16 teams and includes the top four finishers from four sections. Hopewell — the fifth-place finisher in Quaker Valley’s section — took the place of Quaker Valley in the playoffs and was seeded No. 16.

The Quaker Valley girls team also qualified for the WPIAL playoffs, but will not participate because of the school shutdown. The girls team isn’t as strong as the boys, finishing fourth in its section with a 3-7-2 record.

The Quaker Valley girls volleyball team also has qualified for the playoffs, but might not be able to participate. The WPIAL volleyball committee meets Monday to decide playoff pairings.

In another similar case, the North Catholic boys soccer team is shut down through Oct. 27 because it was possibly exposed to COVID-19 in a recent match. The players on the team are supposed to be quarantined.

But North Catholic, which has a 12-1-1 record, will still be in the Class 2A playoffs and will play Leechburg in a first-round game Monday at Mars. North Catholic plans to use its JV team for the game because the JV team is not shut down.

Soccer championships

The WPIAL announced the dates and times of all boys and girls soccer championships, but not the sites.

In boys, the Class 2A championship will be at 5 p.m. Nov. 5, and the 3A final at 8 later that day. The Class 1A final will be at noon on Nov. 7 and the Class 4A title game at 3 p.m. that same day.

In girls, the Class 1A final will be at 5 p.m. Nov. 5 and the Class 4A final at 8 on the same day. The other two girls championships will be played Nov. 7 — Class 2A at noon and Class 3A at 3.

Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mwhiteburgh

First Published October 21, 2020, 6:03pm

Team News

3.0 years ago @ 8:31AM

WPIAL soccer tournament set to begin without Quaker Valley

Joe Sager

Times Sports Correspondent

Due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the school district, the Quaker Valley School District closed its middle and high schools and shifted to online learning for a two-week span, starting Monday. That put its athletics and extracurricular activities on hold, which meant the Quakers are not able to participate in the WPIAL tournament, which starts Saturday, even though both Quaker Valley’s boys and girls programs qualified for the playoffs.

On the boys side, the Quakers advanced to the past four WPIAL championships and went 2-2. Last year, they beat Deer Lakes for the WPIAL title, 4-3, and New Hope-Solebury, 2-1, for the state championship. Quaker Valley finished 11-1-1, just behind North Catholic (12-1-1) in the Section 4 race and was a contender to get back to the championship match.

What a difference a year makes. Quaker Valley boys soccer, shown celebrating with its state championship trophy after it won the PIAA Class 2A boys soccer title Nov. 15, 2019, are not able to participate in the upcoming WPIAL tournament due to an outbreak of COVID-19 in the school district. The Quakers girls soccer team also must sit out of the tournament. [Andrew Chiappazzi/BCT file]

The Quakers’ girls finished 3-7-2 overall and fourth in Section 2-2A. Quaker Valley dropped a 2-1 decision to Deer Lakes in last year’s first round. Hopewell’s boys and Beaver’s girls, who finished fifth in their respective sections, took Quaker Valley’s spots in the tournament.

In The Times’ coverage area, the West Allegheny and OLSH boys and Freedom girls claimed section titles. West Allegheny’s lone loss came Sept. 19 against Montour. Since then, the team has won 11 in a row. The Indians (13-1-0) have only allowed seven goals all season. They are looking to reach their fourth WPIAL title match in a row. They dropped the last two to Franklin Regional and fell to Montour in 2017. OLSH (10-0-1) wrapped up the program’s first unbeaten regular season. The Chargers fell to Avonworth, 4-3, in last year’s first round.

Freedom (11-2-0) won the 2018 WPIAL title and reached last year’s semifinals, but fell to Greensburg Central Catholic, 4-3. The Bulldogs rebounded to reach the PIAA quarterfinals, but suffered a 1-0 loss to GCC.

The WPIAL playoffs begin with Saturday’s first round. The quarterfinals start Oct. 28, with the semifinals and finals taking place the first week of November.

FIRST ROUND

BOYS

CLASS 3A

Gateway at West Allegheny — Saturday, noon

Thomas Jefferson at Moon — Saturday, 1 p.m.

CLASS 2A

Hopewell at Shady Side Academy — Monday, 6:30 p.m.

Keystone Oaks at Ambridge — Monday, 6:30 p.m.

Freedom at Elizabeth Forward — Monday, 6:30 p.m.

CLASS A

Chartiers-Houston vs. Sewickley Academy at Montour Junction — Tuesday, 4 p.m.

Beaver County Christian vs. Seton LaSalle at Peters Twp. — Tuesday, 6 p.m.

Riverside vs. Winchester Thurston at Graham Field-Chatham — Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.

OLSH vs. Carlynton at Peters Township — Tuesday, 8 p.m.

GIRLS

CLASS 4A

Pine-Richland at Moon — Monday, 6:30 p.m.

CLASS 3A

Trinity at West Allegheny — Monday, 6:30 p.m.

CLASS 2A

Beaver at South Park — Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.

Ambridge at Southmoreland — Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.

CLASS A

Sewickley Academy vs. South Side Beaver at Montour Junction — Saturday, 1 p.m.

Seton LaSalle vs. OLSH at Freedom — Saturday, 1 p.m.

Eden Christian Academy at Freedom — Saturday, 3 p.m.

Riverside vs. Greensburg Central Catholic at Norwin — Saturday, 3 p.m.

 

Team News

3.0 years ago @ 8:21AM

Quaker Valley soccer teams kept out of WPIAL playoffs

By: Greg Macafee
Saturday, October 24, 2020 | 11:01 AM


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Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Quaker Valley’s Blaise Burns battles Ambridge’s Austin Merlina for possession during their game on Oct. 8, 2020, in Leetsdale.

The Quaker Valley boys soccer team didn’t lose often this season, but one opponent kept the Quakers out of the WPIAL playoffs — the coronavirus.

School officials elected to close the high school and middle school buildings Oct. 17 after a covid-19 outbreak in the district. Recent exposure to the virus forced the Quaker Valley athletics teams to shut down until Nov. 2.

That left both the boys and girls soccer teams out of the WPIAL playoffs, which kicked off Oct. 24.

The QV boys were the defending WPIAL and PIAA Class 2A champions. They finished the regular season 11-1-1 and would have been one of the top seeds.

 

The QV girls finished fourth in Section 1-2A after going 3-5-2 in section and 3-7-2 overall.

 

Quaker Valley (0-5, 0-3 Class 3A Northwestern Six) also canceled its Week 6 football game at Keystone Oaks and Week 7 game against Ambridge.

The QV girls volleyball team also was in the hunt for the postseason but is unlikely to participate. The playoff pairings were to be announced Monday.

Team News

3.0 years ago @ 8:24AM

Post-Gazette Athletes of the Week: Keller Chamovitz

 

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette logo

 

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE

Got a news tip? 412-263-1601

localnews@post-gazette.com

 

OCT 7, 2020

 

5:30 AM

KELLER CHAMOVITZ

Quaker Valley

The past week: Chamovitz scored three goals and notched two assists in the Quakers’ 13-0 win against Ellwood City Sept. 30, then repeated those numbers in another five-point outing in a 16-0 win Oct. 3 at Hopewell.

Check this out: Chamovitz’s father, Sam, was an all-WPIAL and all-state standout on Quaker Valley’s 1996 WPIAL and PIAA championship team that finished 26-0 with 21 shutouts. Chamovitz followed in his father’s footsteps by helping the Quakers win WPIAL and PIAA titles last year as a sophomore, notching a go-ahead goal on a free kick in a 4-3 double-overtime win vs. Deer Lakes in the WPIAL Class 2A championship game.

Did you feel a lot of pressure going into your high school career, knowing all the success the program has had in the past? It certainly was, but I feel like we’re embracing that and we’re going to live up to the expectations and have another great year.

What’s it like playing for a program with as much history and tradition as Quaker Valley? The eye is always on us. People, when they want to win a WPIAL championship, when they think they have a roster that’s good enough for that, they think they have to take down Quaker Valley. It’s really just a different feeling, but I think if you have players who can embrace that, it just gives me motivation.

Was it hard having to adjust to getting a new coach halfway through your high school career? It’s a little bit different, just without having coach [Andrew] Marshall here, but we all know J.J. [Veshio] well and we trust him enough to lead our team, so it’s not too big of a change.

Do you have a favorite sport to play or watch besides soccer? I would say basketball. I find it really interesting to watch. It’s fast-paced. I wanted to play last year, but I was focused on soccer, so I might try out for the team this year. We do have a pretty good program for basketball. I would love to be a part of that team.

What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about you? Probably the fact that I grew up overseas. Usually when I tell people that I grew up in Japan, they’ll say that I’m lying or that they don’t believe me. I guess when I speak Japanese, they go hand-in-hand.

What do you miss the most about living in Japan? The food, for sure. Food here is pretty good, but I definitely miss some of the Japanese culture and food that I had over there.

— By Steve Rotstein

 

Team News

3.0 years ago @ 9:10PM

Quaker Valley boys soccer displaying championship-caliber form

By: 
Sunday, October 18, 2020 | 11:01 AM


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Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Quaker Valley’s Rowan Kriebel moves the ball in open space during a game against Ambridge on Oct. 8, 2020, in Leetsdale.

A year ago, the Quaker Valley boys soccer team had a talented senior class that led them to WPIAL and PIAA Class 2A titles.

Eight of them, including Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year Dom Reiter and his twin brother Fritz, combined to score 119 of Quaker Valley’s 175 goals. Combine that with the departure of coach Andrew Marshall and some might have expected the Quakers to take a step back.

In true Quaker Valley soccer fashion, the Quakers have done the opposite.

Through 13 games this season, the Quakers were 11-1-1. They’ve scored 112 goals while only allowing eight and have three double-digit scorers.

First-year head coach J.J. Veshio, who was an assistant with the program since 2008, said although Quaker Valley lost a lot of talent from last year’s championship team, the returning players are motivated to top what they accomplished last season.

In order to do that, Quaker Valley has to do it as a team.

“They knew it was going to be a by-committee-type thing, and it’s evident by how were scoring,” Veshio said. “It’s across the board, and it’s not just one player. They are all friends. They love playing together. They’ve been playing together all year long, and it’s quite clear that it’s clicking with them in a different way then maybe it has the past few years with other players.”

After scoring a combined 33 goals as sophomores last season, Keller Chamowitz and Rowan Kriebel have taken center stage for the Quakers this season. Through 12 games, Chamowitz had a team-high 28 goals with 10 assists, and Kriebel had 25 goals with 14 assists.

Both played crucial roles last season, and Veshio said the juniors wanted to step up in more ways than one.

“It’s been their turn to step up and they want to be leaders, not just statistically but they want to provide for the team,” Veshio said. “They’ve clearly done that in more ways than one and not just in the stats column.”

The Quakers also have players taking over selfless roles in hopes of putting the team in better position to win such as midfielder Ryan Edwards, who recently broke the single-season assist record with 27 this year while also scoring 12 goals.

“He’d be the first to say he likes to pass the ball. He likes to be an assist guy, and that’s something that at the end of last season he wanted to break the career assist record, career and single season,” Veshio said. “He set a goal, and he’s already achieved the first part of it, and he’s well on his way to doing more and I’m very proud of him for that. It’s selfless.”

But the Quakers success comes down to how well they’ve played as a team. They have 102 assists this season and didn’t win by less than six goals in any of their first 12 games.

“It’s just been a team-first mentality, and it’s kind of cliché but when one guy starts to do stuff on their own, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t,” Veshio said. “But we are starting to see the team gel, more so with our passing and it’s really starting to see some things open up and some special things happen.”

After losing eight talented seniors from a state championship season, the Quakers faced some uncertainty coming into this season but so far this year, they are playing as well as they hoped.

“We were pretty confident with the guys that we had coming back that we’d be able to compete,” Veshio said. “I think our performances so far, I don’t want to say expected or overreaching, but I think based on how we practiced through preseason, we are satisfied with where we are right now.”

Team News

3.0 years ago @ 9:12AM

WPIAL boys soccer playoff clinchings through Oct. 18, 2020

By: 
Sunday, October 18, 2020 | 9:49 PM

There are two days left in section play in WPIAL boys soccer with only one Class 3A spot still available. The top four teams in each section qualify for the district playoffs. All teams tied for a playoff spot in which head-to-head does not break the tie all qualify for the postseason.

Trib HSSN’s exclusive coverage of the 2020 WPIAL boys soccer playoffs begins with the Soccer Pairings Show on Wednesday.

Here is the list of teams that have qualified for the district boys soccer playoffs through Sunday:

Class 4A – Set with 12 playoff teams

Seneca Valley Raiders

North Allegheny Tigers

Fox Chapel Foxes

Butler Golden Tornado

Peters Township Indians

Upper St. Clair Panthers

Canon-McMillan Big Macs

Baldwin Highlanders

Norwin Knights

Central Catholic Vikings

Latrobe Wildcats

Allderdice Dragons

Class 3A — 16 of a possible 17 teams have clinched playoff berths

Mars Fightin’ Planets

Hampton Talbots

Indiana Little Indians

Knoch Knights

West Allegheny Indians

Moon Tigers

Montour Spartans

South Fayette Lions

Belle Vernon Leopards

Trinity Hillers

Thomas Jefferson Jaguars

Laurel Highlands Mustangs

Franklin Regional Panthers

Plum Mustangs

Kiski Area Cavaliers

Gateway Gators

(West Mifflin can earn a playoff berth with a win at Gateway on Tuesday)

Class 2A — Set with 16 playoff teams

Elizabeth Forward Warriors

South Park Eagles

Keystone Oaks Golden Eagles

Avonworth Antelopes

Shady Side Academy

Deer Lakes Lancers

Burrell Buccaneers

Leechburg Blue Devils

Charleroi Cougars

Mt. Pleasant Vikings

Waynesburg Raiders

Southmoreland Scotties

North Catholic Trojans

Quaker Valley Quakers

Ambridge Bridgers

Freedom Bulldogs

Class A — Set with 16 playoff teams

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Chargers

Sewickley Academy Panthers

Beaver County Christian Eagles

Riverside Panthers

Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions

Winchester Thurston Bears

Serra Catholic Eagles

Trinity Christian Falcons

Springdale Dynamos

Eden Christian Academy Warriors

Carlynton Cougars

Aquinas Academy Crusaders

Seton LaSalle Rebels

Brentwood Spartans

Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers

Bentworth Bearcats

Team News

3.0 years ago @ 9:52AM

Quaker Valley boys soccer facing adversity following first section loss in five years

Bill Allmann

Times Sports Correspondent

Quaker Valley's Blaise Burns, attempts to block a shot  by North Catholic's Richard Kaminski (8) during Wednesday's game at North Catholic.

ADAMS TWP. – The Quaker Valley boys’ soccer team was facing an anniversary on Thursday.  

October 15 would have marked five years since the last time the Quakers had lost a section game – a streak of 55 consecutive games. 

However, that anniversary won’t be celebrated. North Catholic saw to that on Wednesday with a goal in the twilight by Bill Kunzmann just 1:24 into the first overtime, breaking a 2-2 tie. Because North Catholic doesn’t have lights, there were serious doubts that overtime could have been finished safely, but it never got to that point.  

Both teams are 11-1-1 but North Catholic will be considered the WPIAL Section 4-2A champion because it won the head to head series. 

“We finally faced some adversity, we needed that,” said coach J.J. Veshio.

North Catholic's Devin Anderson and Quaker Valley's Keller Chamovitz (23) compete for the ball during Wednesday's game at North Catholic.

Other than a 2-2 tie with North Catholic at home, these Quakers had not won by less than six goals and were winning by an average of 10.8 goals in the 10 wins that weren’t forfeits. 

“We needed to see how we would handle that," Veshio said. 

Other than the final score, the Quakers did handle the challenge. Down 1-0 at halftime despite having a territorial advantage, the Quakers responded to an animated Veshio at halftime – there aren’t locker rooms, either, and his clipboard was taking a beating. 

The Quakers continued to play most of the game on the North Catholic side of the field and junior Keller Chamovitz eventually tied the game on a penalty kick with 23:49 left in the game. The Quakers continued the pressure and took the lead when Ryan Edwards converted a pass from Weston Grant with 8:09 left. 

Quaker Valley celebrates Ryan Edward's goal near the end of the second half during a game against North Catholic.  North Catholic won the game in overtime.

However, Quaker Valley’s only lead lasted just 5:50 before North Catholic scored on an indirect kick for the tie. 

“It absolutely was a nice comeback to take the lead,” said Veshio. “But having a close game like this prepares us for the playoffs. 

“This would have been 56 straight games without a section loss but that’s not a school record – the record is 58 straight. It happens, but sometimes you need it.”  

The Quakers will get a chance to start a new streak Saturday. 

Team News

3.0 years ago @ 2:00PM

Boys Athlete of the Week: Edwards sets new Quaker Valley assist record

Boys Athlete of the Week: Edwards sets new Quaker Valley assist record

Andrew Chiappazzi

Beaver County Times

Quaker Valley junior Ryan Edwards has 27 assists this season, setting a new program record

Brothers Dom and Fritz Reiter were the central figures in Quaker Valley’s charge through the WPIAL and state playoffs last season. 

A speedy striker, Dom scored a program-record 55 goals, while Fritz – a midfielder with an uncanny ability to feed his brother via the long ball – chipped in 34. With supplemental scoring from the rest of the Quakers, the Reiters helped Quaker Valley capture its eighth state title.

The Reiters graduated, but the goals keep coming for Quaker Valley, and midfielder Ryan Edwards has hand a hand in a lot of them. Edwards, a junior, registered his 27th assist of the season last week, breaking the Quaker Valley program record of 26, set in 1996 by Brad Christof. For his efforts, Edwards is the Times’ Boys Athlete of the Week. 

A slight shift in the Quakers’ style of play may have played a part. First-year coach J.J. Veshio, an assistant on last year’s coaching staff under Andrew Marshall, has the Quakers playing a more possession oriented game with more touch passes and through balls. 

Another factor behind Edwards’ record-setting pace could be the chemistry he has with Quakers’ forwards Keller Chamovitz and Rowan Kriebel. Edwards said he and Kriebel have played together since they were four, while Chamovitz is his primary training partner. Chamovitz has a team-high 28 goals, while Kriebel isn’t far behind.

The assist record isn’t the only mark under siege this season. Freshman Nick Allan already has 24 points, the third most by a freshman in program history. The Quakers surpassed the 100 goal mark in the fewest number of games ever. And Chamovitz’s goals and Kriebel’s total points have already placed them in the Top 25 all-time in those categories, all in just 11 games. 

“We definitely all work together well,” Edwards said. “As the season progressed, we’ve started to become more of an actual team and possess the ball.”

Quaker Valley is 10-0-1 as the week begins, and a huge match against North Catholic – the only team to tie the Quakers this season – looms on Wednesday. If Quaker Valley is going to repeat as WPIAL and state champs, Edwards will likely play a prominent role. 

“I think there might be a little pressure, but to me, I feel like I can play in that role,” Edwards said. “As I’ve grown up, I’ve always been a pass-first type of player. I’ll give other people opportunities if it’s a better opportunity than I have.”

 

Unmute

Team News

3.0 years ago @ 9:39AM

Post-Gazette Athletes of the Week: Keller Chamovitz

 

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette logo

 

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE

Got a news tip? 412-263-1601

localnews@post-gazette.com

 

OCT 7, 2020

 

5:30 AM

KELLER CHAMOVITZ

Quaker Valley

The past week: Chamovitz scored three goals and notched two assists in the Quakers’ 13-0 win against Ellwood City Sept. 30, then repeated those numbers in another five-point outing in a 16-0 win Oct. 3 at Hopewell.

Check this out: Chamovitz’s father, Sam, was an all-WPIAL and all-state standout on Quaker Valley’s 1996 WPIAL and PIAA championship team that finished 26-0 with 21 shutouts. Chamovitz followed in his father’s footsteps by helping the Quakers win WPIAL and PIAA titles last year as a sophomore, notching a go-ahead goal on a free kick in a 4-3 double-overtime win vs. Deer Lakes in the WPIAL Class 2A championship game.

Did you feel a lot of pressure going into your high school career, knowing all the success the program has had in the past? It certainly was, but I feel like we’re embracing that and we’re going to live up to the expectations and have another great year.

What’s it like playing for a program with as much history and tradition as Quaker Valley? The eye is always on us. People, when they want to win a WPIAL championship, when they think they have a roster that’s good enough for that, they think they have to take down Quaker Valley. It’s really just a different feeling, but I think if you have players who can embrace that, it just gives me motivation.

Was it hard having to adjust to getting a new coach halfway through your high school career? It’s a little bit different, just without having coach [Andrew] Marshall here, but we all know J.J. [Veshio] well and we trust him enough to lead our team, so it’s not too big of a change.

Do you have a favorite sport to play or watch besides soccer? I would say basketball. I find it really interesting to watch. It’s fast-paced. I wanted to play last year, but I was focused on soccer, so I might try out for the team this year. We do have a pretty good program for basketball. I would love to be a part of that team.

What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about you? Probably the fact that I grew up overseas. Usually when I tell people that I grew up in Japan, they’ll say that I’m lying or that they don’t believe me. I guess when I speak Japanese, they go hand-in-hand.

What do you miss the most about living in Japan? The food, for sure. Food here is pretty good, but I definitely miss some of the Japanese culture and food that I had over there.

— By Steve Rotstein

 

Team News

3.0 years ago @ 9:26AM

WPIAL boys soccer preview

By: Bill Beckner Jr. Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Class 2A

The contenders: Deer Lakes came so close to WPIAL glory, reaching the finals before suffering a 4-3 double-overtime loss to Quaker Valley. The Lancers have the look of a finalist again, led by All-American Game nominee Michael Sullivan (18 goals, 18 assists). … Quaker Valley is looking to reload after losing a dozen seniors, but some younger players experienced the title run. Rowan Kriebel will be a key. … South Park has a chance to make a postseason run, led by Joey Irwin and Dylan Weiss. … Zach Conti and Sam Farner are among the key returnees for Shady Side Academy, which finished second to Deer Lakes in Section 2. … Keep an eye on Avonworth, which rose to prominence in recent seasons in Class A and won a WPIAL title in 2018. The Antelopes had a young roster last season. … The WPIAL champ in this class has been either Quaker Valley or Shady Side Academy the last four years.

Sleepers: Charleroi won the Section 3 title a year ago and reached the quarterfinals where the Cougars lost to Shady Side Academy, 1-0. … North Catholic moves to a new section, but the Trojans have several key contributors back.

Rankings

1. Deer Lakes

2. Quaker Valley

3. South Park

4. Shady Side Academy

5. Avonworth

Players to watch

Zach Conti, Sr., GK, Shady Side Academy

Sam Farner, Jr., MF., Shady Side Academy

Joey Irwin, Sr., MF, South Park

Devin Murray, Sr., MF, Deer Lakes

Michael Sullivan, Sr., F, Deer Lakes

Team News

3.0 years ago @ 9:33AM

Quaker Valley soccer ready to continue tradition with new coach

By: 
Friday, September 4, 2020 | 6:52 PM


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Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Quaker Valley’s Rowan Kriebel plays in the 2019 WPIAL championship game against Deer Lakes at Highmark Stadium.

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J.J. Veshio has been around the Quaker Valley soccer program practically his entire life.

He was a player and assistant coach, but the Quaker Valley graduate never really imagined becoming the head coach, something so many of his mentors have done. When former head coach Andrew Marshall stepped down this past offseason after leading the Quakers to WPIAL and PIAA titles last year, Veshio thought why not him?

“This was unexpected frankly, but when the opportunity came, I figured why not put my own personal touch onto it?” Veshio said. “Especially somebody who’s been around as a coach and understands the expectations of the players and hopefully that will help lead us into the next chapter of this program.”

After rejoining the program as an assistant coach in 2008, Veshio, who is the son of longtime Quaker Valley football and track coach and former athletic director Jerry Veshio, has seen the team achieve a lot. He’s been a part of three WPIAL and two PIAA title winners.

So, if anyone knows about the standards of the Quaker Valley boys soccer program, it’s Veshio. He believes that his experience with the program will make the transition from one coach to the next that much easier.

“Certainly, you want the best coach in there, and hopefully that’s me,” Veshio said with a laugh. “But I think having somebody here, especially for the returning guys, they know things are not going to be that much different, not meaning we do the same thing every year for 30 years, but there’s a feeling, an emotion, a part of the community aspect that I think translates year by year and generation by generation. I think me being there helps continue that.”

Veshio will be taking over the program in somewhat of a transition year after the success they had last season. He’ll have to find a way to replace 119 goals and 79 assists after the graduation of a key group of seniors including Dom and Fritz Reiter and Franky Fernandez. The trio accounted for 103 goals as the Quakers outscored opponents 175-23 last season.

While it might be difficult, Veshio believes that they have a talented group returning and they are motivated to continue the Quaker Valley tradition.

“From an emotional standpoint, I think our guys have to understand that this happens every year,” Veshio said. “It’s just a matter of who’s going to step up next and we have to figure things out, especially when you lose 100-plus goals in one season. But it just takes one goal to win a game and we certainly have guys that are excited to fill those roles and break the records that those guys broke last year.”

Sophomores Rowan Kriebel and Keller Chamovitz will be among the players helping to fill the void. Both played significant minutes last season and combined for 33 goals and 33 assists. Chamovitz even converted a free kick in the WPIAL Class AA championship game against Deer Lakes to put the Quakers up, 2-1.

They’ll also have contributors like Kellen Auth, Will Dunda and others who will step into the spotlight for the Quakers this season. Junior Zach Buhr also returns in net after having a solid run through the WPIAL playoffs.

“Especially for the guys that are returning that were able to be a part of the WPIAL and PIAA championship run last season, they know the expectations,” Veshio said. “They aren’t satisfied either they want more, so that is very encouraging for this year.”

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Team News

3.0 years ago @ 2:51PM

Boys Soccer Preview: Veshio takes the reins at Quaker Valley

Andrew Chiappazzi

Beaver County Times

Quaker Valley's Rowan Kriebel heads up field against Freedom last year. Kriebel is a two-year starter for the Quakers.

When 109 goals exit a soccer program via graduation, there’s a natural inclination to believe that the team’s offense will take a step back.

First-year Quaker Valley coach J.J. Veshio, who took over when Andrew Marshall stepped down after guiding the Quakers to two WPIAL and two state titles in five years, knows his team faces a steep challenge in replacing the production of Dom Reiter, Fritz Reiter, and Franky Fernandez. 

But Veshio looks at returning players like juniors Rowan Kriebel, Keller Chamovitz, Ryan Edwards, and Kellen Auth, and he doesn’t see much of a drop-off in production. 

“There’s a natural thought that there’s going to be a drop off when you lose the Reiters and Franky because of how many goals they scored, but that’s almost an anomaly,” Veshio said. “It was just an incredible amount. But the guys like Rowan and Keller, Ryan and Kellen Auth, they’re fantastic. I have full confidence in them that they’re going to be able to pick up right where the Reiters left off, just like the Reiters picked up right where Landon Grant left off two years prior, just like ten years before that and ten years before that.”

“It’s the added responsibility of knowing where the program has been forever,” Veshio said. “I have high standards, not just for the program, but for myself. It’s a little bit of added pressure, but that’s not a bad thing.”

“I think it’s important to make sure not a lot changes so that the players who are returning are familiar with things and I’m not trying to throw anything crazy or new at them,” he said. “But I certainly want to have my own touch and flair to things that I feel are important.”

Edwards and Auth will take on larger roles in the attack, while Kriebel and Chamovitz have experience scoring in big games. Kriebel scored 20 goals last year as a sophomore and Chamovitz scored on a free kick in the WPIAL championship. 

“They know what it takes to succeed in big games,” Veshio said. “I think that’s a large part of why we’ve been successful. It’s not just the talent – it’s understanding year-in and year-out that it takes a little bit more than talent to succeed in those big games, it’s a little bit of confidence and calmness.”

Quaker Valley is the favorite in Section 4-2A once again, but the Quakers will be challenged. Ambridge moves down from Class 3A, and while the Bridgers lost All-WPIAL selection David Stuebgen, they were a playoff team last year in a difficult section. Freedom lost prolific goal scorer Tyler Mohrbacher to graduation, but the Bulldogs finished second in the section last year and are expected to be in the mix again. Hopewell just missed the postseason last year and has junior goalkeeper Nick Kristian, an honorable mention all-section pick, as one of its returning starters. New Brighton struggled, but the Lions have all-section forward Chase Yopp and honorable mention selection J.J. Mannerino back. 


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