Pittsburg State women’s soccer head coach Wes Branstetter announced Saturday the addition of eight more players for the upcoming fall season.

“We are excited to welcome eight outstanding student-athletes to our 2026 Pitt State women’s soccer team,” Branstetter said in a media release. “Four of these players joined us during the spring semester and made an immediate impact both on and off the field. Beyond their talent, all eight players are exceptional people who strengthen the culture, values and vision of our program. They will raise the level of competition every day in training and make us stronger when we step onto the field for matches.

“A tremendous amount of credit goes to AK (Alesha Kostrzewa) and Lucca Munoz, who have worked tirelessly to help this program improve year after year. Their efforts were instrumental in identifying, recruiting and bringing this talented group of players to Pitt State. We are excited to get our entire team together this fall and begin the work of chasing our very best. The future of Pitt State women’s soccer is bright, and we can’t wait to get started.”

The eight players the Gorillas brought in are four transfers and four freshmen. The transfers are Nebraska-Omaha midfielder Sammie Edwards, Cowley College defender Sthefany Oliveira da Silva, North Texas defender Sarah Payton Webb and Westminster University forward Kaiao Zoller; the freshmen are Lincoln (Neb.) Southwest midfielder Creighton Allen, Hart (Calif.) midfielder Makenna Herrick, Millard West (Neb.) defender Leah Pugliese and Bellevue West (Neb.) forward Zoe Ryan.

Edwards played two seasons at NCAA Division I school Nebraska-Omaha and she will be a junior for the Gorillas. She played 25 games for the Mavericks, including one start, and finished with a goal on eight shots overall and three on goal over nearly 500 minutes of playing time.

Oliveira da Silva played 43 career matches during her two full seasons with the Tigers. She earned KJCCC co-defensive player of the year honors last season and finished with two goals and one assist. Oliveira da Silva begins her career at Pitt State as a redshirt junior; she missed nearly all of the 2024 season due to an injury in the season opener.

Webb will also be a redshirt junior when she begins for the Gorillas and she played two seasons at Division I North Texas. She also missed the 2024 season due to a preseason injury. Webb appeared in 20 matches and made six starts as a defender with the Mean Green.

Zoller played one season at Division II Westminster and scored one goal during 356 minutes on the pitch last season as a true freshman. Zoller prepared a school in Honolulu.

Allen played on two state championship teams at Lincoln Southwest. Herrick scored nine goals and had 10 assists her senior season at Hart HS in California. Pugliese was a four-year starter at Millard West and tallied nine goals and 10 assists over her career. Ryan won four letters at Bellevue West and finished with 25 career goals and 39 career assists.

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