Eight area players power Lady Titans' soccer team

NEW WILMINGTON -- Eight Youngstown-area players have helped the Westminster College women's soccer team streak to a 14-3 record and lead the Presidents' Athletic Conference standings at 9-1, entering Saturday night's match at Carnegie Mellon.
The Titans, coached by Girish Thakar, were riding a four-game winning streak and have won 12 of their last 13 matches, including the last seven by shutouts.
Thakar is in his fourth season at the helm and in his eighth year as coach of the Westminster men's soccer team.
The Titans have achieved success with a young team that has only one senior and four juniors, one of the latter being Christa Andamasaris from Champion High, an outstanding playmaker who heads the Youngstown-area group.
Andamasaris No. 1 in assists
Andamasaris, a forward, leads the team in assists with 10 and also has three goals to rank No. 2 in scoring with 16 points.
Other area standouts have been freshman Christina Adams and sophomore Brittany McKee, both from Hubbard High; and sophomore Jessica Kausits from Ursuline High and Lowellville.
Adams, a midfielder, ranks No. 5 in scoring with nine points on three goals and as many assists; while McKee, a defender, and Kausits, a midfielder, have two points on a goal apiece.
The other area players are freshmen Sandell Raines, a forward from Mohawk; and Allyson Neff and Samantha Bruening, forward and defender, respectively, from Neshannock; and Scarlett Bretz, a sophomore forward from Wilmington Area High and Pulaski.
Bugel, Griffin leaders
Westminster is led by sophomore defender Mallory Bugel and freshman goalie Whitney Griffin.
Bugel leads the team in scoring with 44 points on a team-best 18 goals and eight assists.
Griffin has produced a school-record 11 shutouts so far this season, breaking the mark last Friday as the Titans blanked Waynesburg, 2-0. The previous record of 10 was held by Nicole Drummond.
Griffin has 91 saves and a 0.63 goals-against-average this year.
The team's third and fourth top scorers are freshman midfielder Abby Montgomery (15 points on five goals and as many assists) and junior defender Sarah Calderone (12 points on five and two).
Men's team battling back
Meanwhile, the Westminster men's soccer team, with four Youngstown-area players on the roster, has not fared nearly as well as the women's team. The men carried an 8-8 record, including 4-6 in the PAC, into Saturday night's game at Carnegie Mellon
The men are trying to rebound from a losing start this season with a two-game winning streak after losing five in a row.
Area players are Alex Castillo, a junior midfielder from Austintown Fitch; Keith Little, sophomore forward from Ursuline; Chris DePaola, freshman midfielder from Ursuline; and sophomore midfielder Cory Criss from West Branch.
Castillo is the only one of the group with points so far with three on three assists.
Junior midfielder Blake Ordell leads the team in scoring with 15 points on seven goals and one assist, while junior forward Mark Sadler, junior defender Todd Atwood and junior defender Chris Dymon each has nine points. Top goalie has been junior Anthony Beilstein with a 3-0 record and 1.04 goals-against-average.
kovach@vindy.com