Women's Soccer at Pitt Greensburg

The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg’s women’s soccer team finished with its best season in school history, going 11-6 overall and 5-1 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC).  Behind the direction of first year head coach John Beatty, the Lady Bobcats easily surpassed their previous best season of four wins.  Beatty earned AMCC ‘Co-Coach of the Year’ for his outstanding job of guiding the Lady Bobcats.

The Lady Bobcats finished the season tied for first place in the AMCC and were the #2 seed in the AMCC Tournament.  This was the first time in school history the Lady Bobcats entered the AMCC Tournament.  Their season came to an end in the semi-finals, where they lost to Frostburg St., 2-1, in overtime.

Leading the greatly improved Lady Bobcats was sophomore forward Melissa Wiggins (Beaver/Beaver H.S.).  Wiggins scored an AMCC leading and school record 24 goals, while also providing 9 assists.  7 of her goals were game-winners.  Wiggins finished the season with a school record 57 points.  For her efforts, Wiggins was named the AMCC ‘Player of the Year’, the first Lady Bobcat in school history to bring home this honor.  Wiggins finished 9th in the NCAA Division III with 3.35 points per game, and she also finished 11th with 1.41 goals per game.  Wiggins also finished 4th in the single game highs in points with 12 and finished tied for 3rd in the single game highs in goals with 6, both accomplished on Sept. 2, 2002, against Columbia Union.

Providing the defensive leadership was sophomore goalkeeper Torey Auld (Zelienople/Seneca Valley H.S.) and freshman defender Lauren Heckman (North Huntingdon/Norwin H.S.).  Auld led the AMCC in goals against average, only allowing 1.13 goals per game.  She finished with a 9-4 record, with 2 shutouts and 97 saves.  Auld was selected as the First-Team All-Conference goalkeeper in the AMCC.  Heckman provided solid defensive play for the Lady Bobcats, contributed 3 assists, and for her efforts, was a First-Team All-Conference selection as a defender.

Providing the scoring assistance for the Lady Bobcats were freshman forward Jen McIntosh (Pittsburgh/South Park H.S.) and freshman midfielder Jessica Phillippi (Rockwood/Rockwood H.S.).  McIntosh finished second on the team in scoring with 35 points.  She scored 11 goals, 3 of which were game-winners, and had a team-leading 13 assists.  McIntosh was named a Second-Team All-Conference all-star and was also named as the AMCC ‘Newcomer of the Year.’  McIntosh finished 9th in the NCAA Division III with 0.81 assists per game.  McIntosh also finished tied for 3rd in the single game highs in assists with 4, accomplished on Sept. 2, 2002, against Columbia Union.  Phillippi finished the season with 21 points, including eight goals, one of which was a game-winner, and five assists.  Phillippi was also named to the AMCC All-Conference First-Team.  Phillippi was also a backup goalkeeper.  She finished with a 2-2 record, with a 2.42 GAA and 30 saves.

Other All-Conference selections included sophomore defender Dana Tietsworth (Lower Burrell/Burrell H.S.) and junior midfielder Kate O’Brien (Washington/McGuffey H.S.).  Tietsworth was named a Second-Team All-Conference selection for the second consecutive season.  She scored 1 goal, played strong defensively all season, and provided strong leadership in the Lady Bobcats successful season.  O’Brien was selected as an Honorable Mention all-star.  O’Brien is the heart of the Lady Bobcats.  She is a leader on and off the field for the team and enjoyed another successful season manning the midfield.  O’Brien also contributed with 2 assists.

Other key contributors were sophomore midfielder Jessica Mancino (Pittsburgh/North Hills H.S.), freshman midfielder Katie Mikach (Apollo/Greensburg Central Catholic H.S.), freshman midfielder Jennifer Vocke (New Kensington/Kiski Area H.S.), and freshman forward Keirnan Brown (Mercer/Mercer H.S.).  Mancino started 16 games and scored five points, 1 goal and 3 assists.  Mikach started 15 games and scored nine points, including three goals and three assists.  Vocke started six games and scored six points, 1 goal and 4 assists.  Brown appeared in 12 games and contributed 1 assist.  Brown was also a backup goalkeeper.  She defended the goal in three games and finished with 5 saves.

Other team members included junior midfielder Sara Livengood (Mt. Pleasant/Mt. Pleasant H.S.), sophomore midfielder Melissa Brandt (Mars/Mars H.S.), sophomore defender Raelyn Day (Wexford/Pine Richland H.S.), sophomore defender Genevieve Emberger (Gilbertsville/Boyertown H.S.), sophomore forward Leah Magiera (West Mifflin/Oakland Catholic H.S.), sophomore midfielder Lindsay Schaffer (North Versailles/East Allegheny H.S.), freshman midfielder Jennifer Hay (Rockwood/Rockwood H.S.), and freshman defender Stephanie Parzyck (Pittsburgh/South Park H.S.).

JOHN BEATTY:  Coach Beatty enthusiastically begins his first season as Head Coach of the Lady Bobcats.  Coach Beatty holds a US Soccer Federation “A” Coaching License and has more than 17 years of soccer coaching experience.   This past season, he was a volunteer assistant coach for the UPG Men’s Soccer team.  Prior to that, he was Head Coach of the Penn State New Kensington club soccer team. Coach Beatty has played for the past 14 years for Monroeville in the Masters League.

LESLIE HRUBES:  Coach Hrubes will begin her first season assisting Coach Beatty.  Coach Hrubes is a recent graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she was a four-year starter and captain of the Women’s Soccer team.

AARON WAWRZYNIAK:  Coach Wawrzyniak is beginning is first season as an Assistant Coach with the Lady Bobcats, where he will specialize in goalkeeper training and pre-season coordination between coaches and players.  He started coaching back in 1991 at Yough High School, when his father, Ted Wawrzyniak, started the boy's program there.  Since then he has been coaching soccer with the Foothills Soccer Club and has obtained his National "C" license through the United States Soccer Federation coaching school as well as a State Diploma through the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.  Last year, Coach Wawrzyniak was awarded with the Classic Coach of the Year Award through PA West.  For the past 3 years, Coach Wawrzyniak has been a volunteer assistant coach with the UPG Men’s Soccer team.  In addition to coaching at Pitt-Greensburg, he also coaches Team Copa, a Premier U-18 Boy's team, and Time United, a U-12 Girl’s team, from the Foothills Soccer Camp.  Coach Wawrzyniak started as a defender for the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, a NCAA Division II school, in the Fall of 1995.  In addition, he has continued to play soccer with the Norwin International GPSL team.  Coach Wawrzyniak has also obtained the NAISOA Referee License through the National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association and a Grade 8 Referee License through the United States Soccer Federation.

Roster (2002)

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