Penn State commit Payton Galuski, 1st girl to earn boys' soccer all-state nod, won't play this fall for Waterford-Halfmoon

WATERFORD – Just days into the high school sports preseason, Waterford-Halfmoon soccer standout Payton Galuski made a surprising announcement Wednesday to her boys’ soccer teammates. 

The Penn State women’s soccer commit, who played for her school’s boys’ team the past two seasons, won’t play high school soccer this fall. Instead, she will spend her junior year focusing on competing with her FC Stars girls’ club team as she continues to prepare for the next level.

“It’s just an opportunity for me to continue to grow,” Galuski said.

Galuski, who committed to Penn State in July, said Wednesday she made the decision recently after the opportunity arose to join a fall FC Stars team, a New England soccer club in the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) made up of players not competing for their high school programs.

The move ends, at least for now, one of the more interesting high school soccer careers in Section 2. Galuski won back-to-back state championships with the Waterford-Halfmoon girls as a seventh and eighth grader. She then moved to the boys’ team as a freshman and, last season as a sophomore, she recorded 19 goals and 18 assists, earned Wasaren League Offensive MVP honors and became the first girl to earn boys’ soccer all-state recognition.

Galuski will remain a student at Waterford-Halfmoon and plans to stay involved with the boys’ program.

“I’ll practice with them when I can,” Galuski said. “I’ll go to the games and sit on the bench with them. I just won’t be playing.”

Waterford-Halfmoon coach Ryan Hardy said Galuski informed her teammates of the decision Wednesday and received their support.

“They know that she’s going for the dream,” Hardy said. “They’re very supportive of her, and they’re happy she’s still going to be around to help them get to whatever level they want to get to.”

Her absence will force Waterford-Halfmoon to make tactical adjustments after Galuski became one of its primary scoring threats and a captain last season. Hardy said the Fordians could change formations and move players into different roles, but remain hopeful Galuski’s leadership role will continue with the program.

“You go with the players that you have,” Hardy said. “Now that she’s going to be taking more of the supporting-teammate role there, we just build on what we have.”

Recently named the U16 ECNL New England Conference Player of the Year and an ECNL All-American for the 2025–26 season, Galuski said her FC Stars schedule will include extensive travel for training and tournaments, starting with a tournament in Virginia this weekend. She hopes the high-level competition will let her keep developing without having to readjust to the club game after the high school season.

With goals of eventually playing professionally and for the U.S. national team, Galuski said the decision ultimately came down to her development.

“I’m mainly just going to try to focus on strengthening my weaknesses,” she said, “and then continue to grow in my strengths.”

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This article originally published at Penn State commit Payton Galuski, 1st girl to earn boys’ soccer all-state nod, won’t play this fall for Waterford-Halfmoon.