McIntyre, Butchki are MVI Players of the Year
By JEREMY SELLEW
jsellew@yourmvi.com
As the WPIAL soccer season winds down, it’s time for the annual Mon Valley Independent-BeeGraphix Fab 15 All-Stars to be announced.
This year’s teams will be announced at 8 p.m. Nov. 12 on our MVI Live YouTube page.
All winners and their head coaches are invited to attend the MVI Live show recording at BeeGraphix Nov. 11 and will be interviewed for the show.
This year’s award winners and all-stars were selected by a panel of MVI staff writers and photographers based on nominations received from our local coaches.
As wasn’t always the case in past seasons, this year’s selections were tedious. There are so many great players, from freshmen to seniors, who deserved recognition. In the end, we believe we have the absolute best of the best taking home the hardware.
Award winners
This year’s Fab 15 Boys Player of the Year is Charleroi’s Eben McIntyre.
McIntyre finished with 43 goals and 10 assists on the season, breaking the school record for goals in a game with seven against Brownsville.
“Eben leads the team by respect and action,” Charleroi head coach Jon Ducoli said. “He’ll slide from the forward position to the midfield, or even the holding-mid to give our team the best chances to win.”
McIntyre and the Cougars’ season came to an end in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs with a 3-1 loss to Avonworth.
“I think it’s definitely a well-deserved honor. He’s one of the hardest working players I know,” Ducoli said. “He’s always looking at the positive side and mentoring the younger players, it’s having a player like him that makes coaching so enjoyable.”
The Fab 15 Girls Player of the Year award will be taken home by Belle Vernon Area forward Jillian Butchki.
Butchki led the offensively potent Leopards with 27 goals and 14 assists, good for 68 points.
Butchki hit the 100-goal mark for her career this season as a senior captain. She finished the season as the sixth-leading scorer in the WPIAL.
“Not only is Jill an outstanding soccer player herself, she’s an all-around team player,” Lovett said. “She’s the type of player that goes out there and makes all the players around her better.”
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