Seneca Valley boys soccer’s Owen Eastgate player of the year: See 2025 Butler County all-stars
Seneca Valley boys soccer featured a number of players switching positions this season. One of them was senior Owen Eastgate, who began the season in the midfield.
After he scored seven goals in the Raiders’ first three games, head coach George Williams had second thoughts.
“He’s more of a midfielder by nature, but someone with that ability to score, they’re playing forward for us,” Williams said. “He was a threat to score every time he had the ball.”
Eastgate went on to post 23 goals, including three hat tricks, and 10 assists. His move to forward undoubtedly played a role in SV reaching the WPIAL Class 4A title game and the PIAA semifinals.
The productive campaign has earned for Eastgate the Butler Eagle’s 2025 Boys Soccer Player of the Year honor. He was also tabbed for all-section, all-WPIAL and all-state teams.
“I played part of (2024) at striker, but had never played there before (full-time) and spent a lot of time just getting a feel for the position,” Eastgate said. “The switch definitely worked out this year.
“With how hard we worked, I’m proud of the team. The effort was there all season.”
Eastgate headlines this year’s All-Butler County team, with first team selections listed alphabetically, followed by honorable mentions.
Owen Ali, jr., M, Seneca Valley: His main focus was defense and he played very well in 1-on-1 matchups. Ali contributed a pair of assists and was named all-section and all-WPIAL.
Mason Bell, sr., F, Karns City: A big and physical presence on KC’s attack, he netted 14 goals and added four assists as the Gremlins won the District 9 Class 2A title.
Logan Coone, sr., M, Mars: Coon was voted the Planets’ MVP after contributing eight goals and six assists. He earned all-WPIAL honors.
Xavier DeWitt, jr., D, Freeport: He was named all-section and voted the team’s MVP after scoring three goals and dishing out eight assists to go with his superb defensive play.
Wade Freehling, so., F, Slippery Rock: The only underclassman to make the Eagle’s First Team, he tallied 19 goals and six assists to help the Rockets win a District 10 Region 2 title.
Chase Good, jr., GK, Seneca Valley: Good posted 12 shutouts while allowing 15 goals all season and gave up an average of 0.72 goals per game for the Raiders, who reached the state semifinals.
Frank Knezovich, sr., F, Mars: He scored a team-leading 14 goals while dishing out five assists and was named a WPIAL Section 1-3A all-star.
Arthur Mendonca, jr., M, North Catholic: He led the Trojans in points with 18 goals and 13 assists. The team’s offense ran through Mendonca for much of the season. He earned all-WPIAL honors.
Jacob Prex, jr., M, Seneca Valley: He earned all-section and all-WPIAL honors based largely on his effort as a playmaker (18 assists) while scoring five goals.
Jack Spirnak, sr., D, North Catholic: He started all four years, each season at a different position. Spirnak anchored the back line as a centerback this year.
Ryan Sutara, sr., M, Freeport: A center-midfielder, he paced the Yellowjackets in points by scoring 18 goals and adding nine assists.
Max Davis, sr., F, Mars; Cody Freehling, jr., D, Slippery Rock; Austin Friedline, sr., F, Knoch; Justin Garvey, sr., F, North Catholic; Fynn O’Donnell, jr., D, Seneca Valley; Jude Perhacs, fr., M, Butler; Joshua Peters, jr., D, Karns City; Sean Scanlon, sr., M, Mars; Dylan Shantz, sr., GK, North Catholic; Eli Stasiowski, sr., GK, Mars; Ryan Strother, sr., F, Slippery Rock; Spencer Valasek, so., F, Freeport
