Juliana Gonzales is headed to Wagner College to play field hockey. From left, first row: Celeste Gonzales, mother; Juliana Gonzales; and Sofia Gonzales, sister. Second row: Joe Pizano, athletic director; Christina Granteed, assistant coach; Bree Bednarski, head coach; and Eric Speece, principal.
Submitted Photo
Ella McKernan signed her Letter of Intent to play field hockey at Michigan State. From left, first row: John McKernan, father; Ella McKernan; and Sandy McKernan, mother. Second row: Joe Pizano, athletic director; Christina Granteed, assistant coach; Bree Bednarski, head coach; and Eric Speece, principal.
Submitted Photo
Lyla Rehill has committed to play field hockey at Rutgers University. From left, first row: Jared Rehill, father; Kara Rehill, mother; Lyla Rehill; and Claudia Rehill, sister and teammate. Second row: Joe Pizano, athletic director; Christina Granteed, assistant coach; Bree Bednarski, head coach; and Eric Speece principal.
Submitted Photo
Three of the leaders of Wyoming Area’s trip to the state Class A semifinals signed their Letters of Intent to play National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I field hockey Wednesday, the day after their season ended.
Lyla Rehill is headed to Rutgers University; Ella McKernan is set to become the third Lady Warrior on the Michigan State roster; and Juliana Gonzales is committed to play at Wagner College.
A fourth Wyoming Area player, junior Lucia Campenni, is verbally committed to Temple University with the expectation of formally signing next year as a senior.
Like Campenni, Rehill’s verbal commitment came before her junior season was complete. McKernan made her decision shortly after her junior season in the first week of December, 2023. Gonzales decided Oct. 2 to accept an offer from Wagner and coach Aubrey Mytych, a Wyoming Seminary graduate who played at Wyoming Area when she was in junior high.
Rehill’s commitment was covered in detail in the Sunday Dispatch at the time of her verbal commitment.
The pharmacy major was a first-team Class A all-state selection by the Pennsylvania High School Field Hockey Coaches Association as a junior when she led the Lady Warriors in assists and points and received state honorable mention as a sophomore.
Rehill led the 20-1 team, which won division and district titles, in goals, assists and points. She scored 37 goals and assisted on 19.
McKernan, one of District 2’s top track and field athletes, originally thought her athletic future might be as a runner.
Trips to about 15 college summer camps, some by signing up on her own, others as an invited recruit, gradually changed that perception. She has been going to Michigan State camps since she was a freshman and wound up sure of her sport and school selection as a junior.
“I didn’t want to rush anything,” McKernan said. “I just wanted to be patient and wait for when the time was right, but during the summer of my sophomore and junior year, I did a bunch of camps.
“I really focused on going to the schools because I thought that would be best for me.”
When McKernan learned there was an offer to join Bianca Pizano, who shared the team scoring lead this year as a sophomore, and Nina Angeli, who redshirted during her recently completed freshman season, she accepted a chance to play at Michigan State.
“I just always really liked it there and wanted to go there,” said McKernan, who plans to major in speech language pathology.
McKernan, a second-team, all-state choice last season, was third on the team in goals and assists this season with 18 and 10.
Gonzales scored 10 goals and assisted on seven more. She had not originally pictured herself as a college prospect in the sport.
“I really didn’t think I was going to play a sport in college,” Gonzales said. “But Aubrey Mytych, the head coach at Wagner, reached out to Bree Bednarski, my high school coach, asking about me and if I was interested. Of course, I was. I love field hockey.”
Gonzales and Mytych began communicating.
“I went out to Wagner for one of their games,” Gonzales said. “The city is so close, so that is a big plus.”
Gonzales, who had already planned to seek out a school in New York, Philadelphia or another major city, chose the Staten Island campus. She plans to major in business and likes the New York City internships the Wagner business program makes possible.
Campenni, who received honorable mention on the all-state team as a sophomore, was Wyoming Area’s second-leading scorer this season with 26 goals and 11 assists.
This year’s all-state selections have not yet been announced.
Rutgers was 4-4 in the Big Ten and 8-9 overall in the recently completed season. Michigan State, another Big Ten member, was 1-7 and 8-10.
Mytych went right from two straight Big East championship seasons as a player at Old Dominion to landing a head coaching position at Wagner.
Wagner won the Northeast Conference regular season at 7-1 in Mytych’s first year and finished 12-7 overall.
