PORT ANGELES — Peninsula College Athletics celebrated its 2024-25 academic year accomplishments by handing out athletic awards to outstanding student-athletes Wednesday afternoon in the Pirate Union Building.

Albin Rosenlund, Isaiah Lopez, Carliese O’Brien, Ciera Agasiva, Gemma Rowland, Evee Stoddard, Sid Gunton-Day and Konrad Mueller all won awards.

The Art Feiro Award (basketball) and Wally Sigmar Award (soccer) go to student-athletes who exemplify leadership, athleticism, academics and citizenship.

Those awards went to Rosenlund of Norrkoping, Sweden, for men’s basketball and to first-team all-region Agasiva of Kalihi, Hawaii, for women’s basketball.

The soccer awards went to Northwest Athletic Conference first-team all-star and defensive player of the year Stoddard of Pocatello, Idaho, for women’s soccer and to first-team all-star Mueller of Trier, Germany, for men’s soccer.

The Pirate Gold Award is given to student-athletes who share inspiration, dedication, accomplishment and ambassadorship.

Those awards went to Lopez of Okinawa, Japan, for men’s basketball and to all-defensive team selection O’Brien of Bethel, Alaska, for women’s basketball.

For women’s soccer, it was first-team all-star and student body president Rowland of Shedd, Ore., and the men’s winner was second-team all-star Gunton-Day of Bristol, United Kingdom.

“These eight student-athletes represent a truly remarkable Class of ’25,” said Rick Ross, associate dean. “The coaches had so many options for these awards. It was a year of high-achieving, high-energy and high-quality young women and men. We are blessed to get to do what we do, coaching and working with athletes from all over the world and helping them advance through their higher education journey.”

As a program, Pirate Athletics won Northwest Athletic Conference championships in women’s and men’s soccer, their 15th NWAC titles since 2010, and claimed three more North Region titles in women’s and men’s soccer and women’s basketball.

The 80 student-athletes combined for an average grade point of 3.2 with about 40 students on the honor roll and president’s list each quarter.

More than 25 sophomores will go on to play at the next level.

Of the emerging young players in the National Women’s Soccer League this season, Sam Meza has had one of the more unusual journeys to start her professional career.

Meza was drafted by the Seattle Regin in 2024 out of North Carolina. She made one appearance with the team before she was loaned to the Dallas Trinity for the first season of the women’s pro USL Super League.

Meza, who earned Super League player of the month honors for November, was brought back to Seattle this season.

She’s one of several young NWSL players who have launched their careers in an ever-growing women’s soccer ecosystem that offers a variety of professional pathways. Other players have skipped college soccer, or have navigated the job hunt without the benefit of a college draft.

While Meza considered the loan a blow at the time, now she sees the value in it.

“Ultimately, it was an opportunity for me to learn prove to myself, which is the most important, and to prove to everybody else that I was a player that I’ve always been. It just took me a little bit more time to get to where I wanted to be,” Meza said.

As veteran midfielder Jess Fishlock nurses a knee injury, Meza has started six games for the Reign. She assisted on Jordyn Huitema’s game-tying goal in a 1-1 draw with Bay FC last month, and she is tied for second in the league for tackles with 32.

“She’s a great example of how loans can be really good, and sticking with it, sticking to the journey, because last year was really challenging for her going on loan,” Reign coach Laura Harvey said. “She wanted to do it in the end, but I’m sure she would have preferred to be with us the whole time.”

Meza, a Dallas native, is a member of the final draft class in the NWSL. The league eliminated the college draft in the latest collective bargaining agreement and 2025 was the first year without a draft.

She’s also one of a handful of players who have been loaned to the Super League, which is on the top tier of women’s soccer in the United States alongside the NWSL but is only in its first season. Those deals are expected to grow.

North Carolina Courage defender Natalia Staude followed a similar path. She started her pro career on loan to the Super League’s Tampa Bay Sun before joining the Courage this season.

NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman has said one of the strengths of the league on the international stage is its depth — and part of that is due to its emerging young stars. The loan process helps develop young players who in the past may have left soccer altogether.

“There have been examples where our teams have loaned players to those other leagues when they anticipate that a particular player isn’t going to get playing minutes, or that it’s not the right fit from a technical environment perspective, but they want to give the player an opportunity to continue to develop and play,” Berman said. “So I think optionality for players is good, and I think a robust ecosystem that allows for players at all levels to be able to continue to play is a good thing for the sport.”

Some of the other emerging young players who haven’t taken traditional paths to launch their pro careers:

Riley Tiernan, Angel City

In the absence of a draft, Tiernan was a non-roster invitee to Angel City’s preseason training camp this year. She did so well she earned herself a spot on the team and signed a two-year contract. She’s scored five goals, tied for second in the league.

Claire Hutton, Kansas City Current

Hutton initially committed to North Carolina but then decided to go pro instead. She was signed by the Current ahead of the 2024 season via the NWSL’s Under-18 Entry Mechanism and was a finalist for NWSL Rookie of the Year. Hutton followed in the footsteps of other talented NWSL players who skipped college, including Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman.

Olivia Moultrie, Portland Thorns

Although Moultrie made her professional debut in 2021, she’s still just 19 years old. She turned pro at just 13 when she hired an agent and signed a deal with Nike. But she wasn’t allowed to play professionally because of an NWSL rule that required players to be 18. In 2021, she sued for the right to play and won. Moultrie’s legal fight created the pathway for the rule that Hutton and many others have used to turn pro.

The Thompson Sisters, Angel City

Alyssa was the first high school player drafted into the NWSL when she was the No. 1 pick in 2023. Gisele Thompson was just 17 when she joined Angel City ahead of the 2024 season through the under-18 rule. She scored this month against Bay FC with an assist from Alyssa for the league’s first sister-to-sister goal.

WESTON, Mass. — Regis College head men’s soccer coach Renato Capobianco has announced that six student-athletes—five incoming first-years and one transfer—have committed to join the Pride beginning in the Fall 2025 semester.

Capobianco, who enters his 15th season at the helm of the Regis men’s soccer program, and his coaching staff are excited about this group and the upcoming fall season.

The Pride finished the 2024 season with a 6-9-4 overall record, highlighted by a thrilling 1-0 overtime victory on the road against Norwich in the opening round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament.

	Eric De Carvalho Revere High School
	Guillermo Infante Cypress Bay High School (Fla.)
	Jared Romero Revere High School
	Jeremy Romero Revere High School
	Michael Champagne Wellesley High School
	Wylie Gardiner Cohasset High School

Wheeling, W. Va. – As they prepare to embark on their 2025 season on Saturday, the Wheeling Highlanders will be featuring two Wheeling Men’s Soccer players on this season’s roster. The two Cardinal representatives will feel right at home, with the team playing their home games throughout the 2025 season at Bishop Schmitt Field. It will be the second season in a row that the Highlanders have called Bishop Schmitt Field their home turf as they compete in the Ohio Valley Player’s League (OVPL). 

“We are really pleased to bring top level soccer back to Wheeling for our fifth season and are delighted to have Wheeling University be our home base.” Said Highlanders Head Coach, and Head Wheeling Women’s Soccer Coach, Ryan Wall. “It is such a lovely place to play and we aim to continue last season’s unbeaten record at Bishop Schmitt Field.” 

The Wheeling Highlanders have been a member of the Ohio Valley Premier League (OVPL) since the 2021 season, becoming the seventh club to commit to the league. During the 2024 season, the team went 4-2-3 across their nine games, playing their home schedule at Bishop Schmitt Field. Since their formation in 2021, the team has had representatives from the Wheeling Men’s Soccer team, with former Cardinals Richard Afolayanka, Miguel Martin, and others having played for the club. Wall, who founded the club during their inaugural 2021 season, has been helping local high school and college players find a path to continue growing their games in the summer months right here in Wheeling. 

Due to a scheduling conflict, the Highlanders first home game of the season on Saturday, May 17th, will be played at an alternate venue. However, the team will play each of its remaining games at Bishop Schmitt Field. The 2024 season was the first year that the Highlanders played their home contests at Bishop Schmitt Field and they would go unbeaten at the venue. After playing four home games at the venue a season ago, the Highlanders will return to Bishop Schmitt Field for three contests this season. After battling Junior Croatias Saturday at a Neutral site location, the Highlanders will look to chase down an OVPL Championship in 2025. 

Cardinal fans who come out to the game will be familiar with two of the team’s players, Carlos Molina and former Cardinal Miguel Martin. Molina has played for the Wheeling Men’s Soccer team in each of the past four seasons, putting together a career-year in 2024. He appeared in nine games for the Cardinals, making seven starts, and finished with a .620 save percentage. He would go 1-5-1 in net and recorded the team’s only shutout when he made four saves against Point Park on October 20th. Miguel Martin has spent the last seven years with the Cardinal’s men’s soccer team, spending five years as a player and two as a coach. He played with the Cardinals from 2019 to 2022. He finished his career with eight goals, three assists, and 14 points, and was a part of two runs to the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament. He has been on the sidelines each of the last two seasons for the program, serving as a Graduate Assistant under Head Coach Brandon Regan. 

The Wheeling Athletic Department wishes the Highlanders the best of luck as they compete for an OVPL Championship in 2025. 

Wheeling, W. Va. – Over the last two seasons, the Wheeling University Men’s Soccer team has been building a strong core of young talent, growing on the field. On Thursday, the team announced their 2025 schedule as they look to build on their experience over those two seasons. The schedule features nine home contests, with many of those coming during the late season push for the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament.  

In 2024, the Cardinals had a young roster and relied heavily on their defense to keep them in games. That defense was on display from the get-go as the team went in the road and earned a 1-1 tie with Cal-U in their season opener. They had to go through a gauntlet in their early season MEC schedule, facing Charleston and West Virginia Wesleyan out of the gate. They would pick up their first conference point on September 18th with a 0-0 tie against Point Park but sat at 0-2-1 in conference play. They would add another tie against Davis & Elkins on October 6th and picked up their first conference win on October 20th in a 1-0 affair with Point Park. They would hold their opponents to two goals or less in nine of their 18 games and look to build off their defense in 2025. 

After opening the year with three exhibition games, the Cardinals kick-off 2025 at home with one of just three non-conference games. They open on September 4th against CAL-U, returning the favor from their trip a season ago. Their conference schedule begins three days later as the Cardinals begin the annual “The Battle for Wheeling” against West Liberty on the road September 7th. Wheeling will be road warriors early in the season, with four of their first six games coming away from Bishop Schmitt Field. They will take on The University of Charleston, West Virginia Wesleyan, and non-conference foe Salem during the stretch, with the two home games featuring Point Park on September 14th and Concord on September 24th. 

However, the home schedule heats up as the calendar turns to October, with things kicking off at home against Frostburg State on October 1st. It is the first of six home games over the final month plus of the season, with six of their final 10 games coming at Bishop Schmitt Field. After back-to-back road games at Davis & Elkins and Concord, the Cardinals come back home for back-to-back on October 12th and 15th against Charleston and West Virginia Wesleyan. The team rounds out the October home schedule against Davis & Elkins on the 22nd, before finishing the month on the road against Frostburg State on October 29th. Their November schedule has them at home for both of their contests to round out the season. They host Salem in their final non-conference game on November 2nd and round out the season on senior night on November 5th in the final “The Battle for Wheeling” against West Liberty. 

The Wheeling University Men’s Soccer team kicks off its 2025 season on Thursday, September 4th, when they host Cal-U at 7 PM. To view the full Wheeling Men’s Soccer schedule, click HERE. 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – On Thursday afternoon, the Big South Conference announced that Presbyterian College women’s soccer superstar Kelly Hall was among a group of 12 student-athletes that have been picked to receive the George A. Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence.

The award is distributed to a graduating male and female student-athlete who attains the highest GPA during their undergraduate collegiate careers. Typically, only 4.0’s are acceptable for Christenberry consideration, a number that Hall maintained for all four years at PC.

At least six student-athletes have been honored with this award for 13 consecutive years, created in the mid 1980’s and bestowing 16 different universities affiliated with the Big South.

This year’s batch of 12 recipients ties the record number of honorees that was first achieved in 2020. Big South member institutions nominate one male and one female student-athlete for Christenberry review each year, or multiple student-athletes that tie for the highest GPA on their respective campus.

 
JOINING THE CHRISTENBERRY CREW
 
– Backed by a cumulative 4.0 in the field of Business Administration, Hall becomes the 11^th individual from Presbyterian College to acquire the Christenberry prize and the third student-athlete to represent the women’s soccer program.

– The Blue Hose have now seen five Christenberry winners since 2023. Hall becomes the sixth person from PC to win the award this decade.

– Below is a list of each Presbyterian student-athlete to win the Christenberry distinction since the school’s admittance to the Big South in the late 2000’s:
 

• Meghan Skinner (2011, women’s soccer)
• Emily Boggus (2014, women’s soccer)
• Thomas Valente (2016, men’s soccer)
• Janie Miles (2018, women’s basketball)
• Jonathan Turnley (2018, men’s soccer)
• Katie Thompson (2020, women’s tennis)
• Kendall Goldfarb (2023, women’s lacrosse)
• Lili Jaraczewski (2023, women’s cross country)
• William Johnson (2024, men’s cross country)
• Lorenzo Nagy (2024, men’s soccer)
• Kelly Hall (2025, women’s soccer)

 
BLUE HOSE LEGEND
 
– PC’s primary goalkeeper since her sophomore days, Hall quickly ascended into one of the best at her position in Blue Hose history. She holds the all-time school record in both shutouts (11) and goals-against average (1.62), captaining Presby’s defense to a memorable postseason run last fall.

– Collecting 108 saves, five blank sheets, an .837 save percentage, and seven victories, Hall aided first-year head coach Matt Smith‘s unit to a gritty win in the Big South Championship Quarterfinals at 4^th-seeded Longwood via penalty kick shootout.

– Keeping the Lancers scoreless for all 90 minutes of regulation and the 20 extra minutes of overtime, Hall was the one to boot the match-winning PK and grant the Blue Hose their first-ever Big South Tournament triumph.

– The Georgia native was voted to the conference’s All-Tournament team after logging 10 saves in Farmville and nearly anchoring an upset over #1 seed USC Upstate in the Semifinals. Her 108 stoppages are the second-most in a single season of any previous PC goalie.

– Hall ranks second among all prior Presby players in both total saves (274) and save percentage (.769), becoming the first keeper in school history to never be subbed out at any point all season (over 1,600 minutes).

– She posted 63 saves against league competition last season along with a career-best 13 deflections in a visit to Western Carolina.

 
ELITE ON & OFF THE FIELD
 
– A staple of both Presbyterian’s on-field resurgence and classroom excellence, Hall’s career 4.0 GPA sent her to the Big South’s All-Academic Team three straight years, a feat that only one other player in team history has accomplished.

– She has been included in the conference’s Presidential Honor Roll from start to finish, and landed a spot on the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District squad as a sophomore, junior, and senior.