Freeport grad Merli confident his final season with UPJ men's soccer team will be his best

There are a number of things Jon Merli wants to accomplish in his final season of collegiate soccer, so he isn’t about to let a nagging ankle injury slow him down.

Merli, a Freeport grad and senior defender on the Pitt-Johnstown men’s team, has been dealing with an ankle issue for much of the season. It caused him to sit out the Mountain Cats’ first match. He has started each match since — even playing all 90 minutes against Shepherd, Cal (Pa.) and Saturday versus Gannon — despite being only “70-80%” physically.

Mentally, however, he’s all in.

“I’m in my last year, and it hits you that it’s your last year, so you want to put all you’ve got into it,” said Merli, who has started 35 of the 43 matches in which he has appeared at UPJ. “So, hopefully, this will be my best season yet.

“The mind says I can, so I guess I’ll be playing through (the injury).”

Merli already could call this his best season yet. The Mountain Cats’ five wins — they are 5-1-1 (1-0-1 PSAC) after drawing with perennial power Gannon — are the most Merli has experienced at UPJ. In fact, it is the most wins UPJ has had since winning seven matches in 2011.

With a lineup heavy on third- and fourth-year players, the Mountain Cats have shown their veteran savvy. Eric Kinsey, in his 26th year as coach, said this team has worked harder than many in recent memory.

“They all know we are better than what our record showed last year, and I think they all put in the work over the summer,” he said. “They all came in more fit this year, and they’ve all just got this mindset that they’re going to be successful.”

The Mountain Cats have been better on both ends of the pitch. Offensively, UPJ has 25 goals after netting 25 all of last season. And the team’s goals-allowed average is 1.71, a full goal lower than 2024.

Defense, of course, is where Merli resides. As one of the center backs, he anchors the back line in front of keepers Sebastian Roman Rivera and Jacob Tichnell.

Kinsey noted the all-around improvement in Merli’s game over his three-plus seasons.

“The two things that Jon has really improved on in his game, one — and I think he’s kind of always had this, but now that he’s playing as the center back — it’s just the toughness,” Kinsey said. “He will go to tackle, slide into a guy, get physical.

“And then, two, the way we play, we try to be a possession team, and that requires our defenders to complete passes. … Especially the longer 25- to 30-yard chipped ball over the top to a winger or up to a midfielder.”

Merli said he enjoys the physical part of the game, and the need for toughness is something he tries to impart to the younger defenders.

“When you’re playing in the PSAC, it’s like playing actual football sometimes,” Merli said. “You’re bashing into a guy, or they’re bashing into you. I just tell them to be physical and stand their ground.”

Merli hopes the Mountain Cats can continue to stand their ground and be a playoff team come November. Along the way, he would like to beat Slippery Rock — UPJ is 0-5-1 vs. The Rock in the past three seasons — and he would like to score another goal. He has one, which came during his sophomore season.

Regardless of how any of his other aims play out, Merli is confident he can achieve the main one, which is finishing his collegiate soccer career with a season to remember.

“We’re capable of a lot,” he said. “A good portion of the starters are seniors, and we all want to go out with a bang. One thing we have to keep our mind on is how we think about the game. If the other team scores on us, in years past, we would always put our heads down.

“This year I feel like our key thing is keep our heads up throughout the game. The game is 90 minutes long, and many things can happen throughout the game.”