Plum boys soccer players motivated by early playoff exit

By: Michael Love
Sunday, August 29, 2021 | 11:01 AM

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The Plum boys soccer team didn’t expect last season to end suddenly.

But the Mustangs, seeded fourth in the Class 3A bracket after finishing as Section 4 co-champions with Franklin Regional, were stunned in the WPIAL first round by No. 13 South Fayette, 2-1.

“That left a bitter taste in the guys’ mouths,” Plum third-year coach Raf Kolankowski said.

“It’s been on their minds ever since that game ended. The captains and other seniors have been talking a lot about this being their season. They’ve shown that in their preparation, along with the underclassmen. They want to basically prove that all of last season wasn’t a fluke or a joke. They’ve been working very hard.”

With seven starters back — all of them, Kolankowski said, played high-level club soccer in the spring and summer — the Mustangs are ready to see what they can do both in and out of Section 4 play.

“We were so anxious to get back for those first pickup workouts (in June),” senior co-captain and midfielder Luke Kolankowski said.

“We had a nice group of freshmen come in, so it was a great feeling to start to put everything together. We’ve been doing a lot of conditioning work, so I know we will be fit. We are all ready to get going for the games in the regular season.”

Plum and Franklin Regional tied for the 2020 Section 4 title with 13-1 records. The Mustangs went a combined 29-3-2 overall and 26-1-1 in section matches the past two seasons.

“I think it could come down to us and Franklin Regional again,” coach Kolankowski said.

“They’ve got a three-year All-American back in (senior forward Anthony) DiFalco and some other really good players. They are going to be very strong again. It will be a good test against them, and we’ll see how we rank.

“We know that teams like (2020 playoff qualifiers) Kiski Area and Gateway will give us their best game, and we can’t take them lightly. It will be interesting to see how the section plays out.”

Coach Kolankowski said he saw some good things from his players in their scrimmage against Knoch on Aug. 24.

“The first couple of minutes, they were rusty. Maybe they were too excited,” he said. “There were a few too many turnovers. But once they settled in, it was a different game. We did a good job of possessing the ball and finding our forwards and finding those creases to get the ball to them. I was able to get a lot of younger guys in who are kind of between JV and varsity. It was good to see what they had to offer, too. We’ve been developing an idea of what we will have in terms of depth.”

Also back as starters this year are senior co-captains Dylan Akut (midfield), Michael Weleski (center back) and Kyle Ryan (left back); as well as junior midfielder Lucas Pittman, junior right back Ethan Rose and junior center back Colin McKinley.

“We have the whole midfield and defense back. Now we just have to find some scorers and get our goalie situation set,” coach Kolankowski said.

The top three scorers from last year — Cannon Kuchinick, Darius Flowers and AJ Koma — graduated. They combined to score 36 of the team’s 64 goals.

Luke Kolankowski led the returnees with nine goals last year.

Lucas Pittman, junior midfielder Ben Pittman, senior forward Ian Yurek and sophomore forward Tristan Ralph each added three goals.

“I think we will be balanced in scoring like we were the past three years,” coach Kolankowski said. “We’ve had three or four guys who could score consistently and there were a few others who could be counted on to score, as well. The way we move the ball, we don’t rely on just one person. We always are telling the guys to not be selfish; if someone is open, pass them the ball and look to score the easier goal. When the opportunity is there, they have to finish. The guys really buy into that.”

Luke Kolankowski led the team in assists last year with 12.

“He has great vision where he is able to find guys on a run and put the ball in the right spot,” coach Kolankowski said. “It’s a hard thing to do, and he does it well for the team.”

Senior Austin Hereda and sophomore Owen Zalewski are the leading candidates to take over at goalkeeper for the graduated combination of Gabe Kuhn and Gavin Chandler.

“It was tough to lose two guys who were 6-3, 6-4 and had good range and athletic ability,” coach Kolankowski said.

“Austin and Owen have had good competition. It’s nice that if something would happen to one, we can put in the other one. We have faith in both of them.”

Plum kicks off its season Friday at home with a tournament game against Upper St. Clair at 8 p.m. West Allegheny and Kiski Area will play at 6.

The winners of the two semifinal games will play for the title at 4 p.m. Saturday. The consolation game will be at 2 p.m.

West Allegheny played in last year’s WPIAL Class 3A semifinals, and Upper St. Clair made it to the quarterfinals in Class 4A.

“It’s going to be a huge test for us to see where we stand,” Luke Kolankowski said.

“But we’re ready for the challenge.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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