Norwin grad Caleb Yuricha's goal-scoring ability helps make UPG men's soccer a contender

Caleb Yuricha isn’t going to lie. He loves scoring goals.

And why not? He has proven to be good at it in club soccer and at Norwin.

Now, he is showing his goal-scoring prowess at the college level.

Through Pitt-Greensburg’s 3-0 win over Pitt-Bradford on Saturday — it raised the team’s unbeaten streak to seven matches — the freshman striker/forward had 12 goals and three assists. His goal and point (27) totals were tops in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.

More importantly, his production is helping the Bobcats (7-3-4, 3-0-1) contend for the top spot in the conference.

“It’s certainly beyond what I thought,” said Yuricha, who netted his 12th goal Saturday. “I definitely knew the quality of this team that I thought I could excel and score a lot of goals, but I never expected to be the top of the list as a freshman.

“It’s exciting, and I can’t wait to continue the season, and I am ready to stay the top goal-scorer. That’s one of my main goals.”

Yuricha’s goal total got a big boost from his first collegiate hat trick, which came in UPG’s 5-2 home victory over La Roche last Tuesday. It was a “natural” hat trick, as Yuricha scored his team’s first three goals.

The first came in the 30th minute to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead. Then, in a 22-second span early in the second half, Yuricha netted two more goals. And if he hadn’t done enough already, he added the assist on Robert Reed’s late goal.

Yuricha had scored many a hat trick in club soccer and in high school, so the experience was nothing new. But his first collegiate hat trick was cause for celebration.

“I was ecstatic. .. Oh my gosh, the feeling was amazing,” he said. “I ran over to the sidelines, and me and Ammar (Kanafani), who is another freshman, did a little dance.”

Yuricha’s production has come as little surprise to coach Marc Bucci. Bucci, in his fourth season at the helm, said he knew Yuricha could make an impact right away.

And Bucci has found multiple ways to get Yuricha into scoring position. Though Yuricha is a natural striker, Bucci sometimes deploys him on the wing.

“It’s mostly tactical depending on certain teams, depending on if we identify a weakness within an opponent that we can kind of exploit where maybe he’s a little bit wider versus more central.

“To me, he could play anywhere in any of the front five positions. He’s so versatile … we can move him around and still have success as a team.”

Bucci added, however, that Yuricha’s best spot is at striker because of “his tenacity and the work rate and his desire to attack and score every time he touches the ball.”

That said, Bucci wants to keep his offense balanced. To that end, he would like to see Yuricha become more of a playmaker.

As much as he loves to put the ball in the net, Yuricha said he has no problem getting his teammates involved. He said he values team results above his individual stats, and he is confident this group of Bobcats has the talent to contend for the AMCC title.

UPG made the conference tournament last season, the first time the program had achieved that in six seasons. And with what he called his best recruiting class, Bucci is hoping the program takes another step as the 2022 season heads into the home stretch.

Yuricha’s production will go a long way to determining how high the Bobcats can climb.

“I feel very confident that we can make a very good run this season, even winning (the conference),” Yuricha said. “With the young players we have, they are so dedicated. … They have really stepped up. Most of the kids who start on our team are freshmen and sophomores.

“It all comes down to seeding as well. The more we fight for our seeding position, the better it will help us.”