Penn State secures commitment from Waterford-Halfmoon’s Payton Galuski
Galuski cites program’s support for professional aspirations as key factor in decision to join Nittany Lions
Waterford-Halfmoon rising junior Payton Galuski has formally committed to play Division I soccer for the Penn State Nittany Lions women’s team. The announcement was made on July 8, arriving less than a month after her recruitment window officially opened on June 15.
Galuski, who previously played on Waterford-Halfmoon’s boys’ soccer team, became the first girl to be named to the boys’ all-state team following her sophomore season. She cited the program’s openness to her professional goals as a primary factor in her decision to join the Nittany Lions.
“I want to go pro, and that’s something that I talked about with the colleges, and let them know my goals,” Galuski said. “That’s part of the reason I chose Penn State, because of how open they were to hearing about it. … It’s a place that will develop you as a player and that’s really what I’m looking for in the college I attend.”
Her top five college choices included Penn State, North Carolina, Tennessee, Michigan State, and Notre Dame. Galuski noted that conversations with Penn State head coach Erica Damback provided a sense of certainty regarding her future. “I had a gut feeling that Penn State was where I should be,” she said. “Whenever I talked to other schools to see if they would pique my interest, it always came back to Penn State.”
Galuski will join former Section 2 standout Kennedy Ring, a 2025 Columbia High School graduate, at Penn State. Based on current eligibility, Galuski is expected to enter as a freshman when Ring is a senior. The two have trained extensively together, though they have not yet played on the same team, with Ring having previously played with Galuski’s older sister, Addyson.
Throughout her middle school and high school careers, Galuski has scored 116 goals. She recorded 80 goals and 39 assists in middle school, where she was named New York State Class C and Times Union Small School Player of the Year in 2022 as a seventh-grader. Over her first two seasons on the boys’ team, she tallied 36 goals and 30 assists.
Waterford-Halfmoon boys’ soccer coach Ryan Hardy praised Galuski’s leadership and work ethic. “She’s a player that leads by example. She asks a lot of herself and she wants to instill that in her teammates, too,” Hardy said. “It was an easy choice to put her in that captain role, and she took it and ran with it.”
Galuski points to friend and Bethlehem High School graduate Claire Hutton, who plays for Bay FC and the U.S. women’s national team, as a key motivator. “Claire’s definitely someone to look up to, since she’s been through all of it now, and is always there to help me out if I ever need it,” Galuski said. “It definitely brings me motivation, since my ultimate goal is to go pro and play for the national team.”
Hardy emphasised that Galuski remains focused on continued improvement despite her recent achievements. “Last year, when she was the first female to be named to the boys’ all-state team, we had a conversation that other girls are going to be looking up to her,” he said. “But she knows the work’s not done. She knows she has to keep working even harder than she has been.”
Prior to joining the boys’ team during her freshman year, Galuski played up on Waterford-Halfmoon’s girls’ varsity team during middle school. The Fordians won back-to-back state titles in 2022 and 2023 during her tenure with the squad.
