Waterford-Halfmoon star Payton Galuski has committed to play for Penn State women’s soccer

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Waterford-Halfmoon star Payton Galuski has committed to play for Penn State women’s soccer

Waterford-Halfmoon rising junior Payton Galuski is always looking for his next challenge.

As a middle schooler, that meant playing on her school’s girls soccer team, as the Fordians won back-to-back state titles in 2022 and 2023.

Then, during his freshman year, Galuski joined the Waterford-Halfmoon boys soccer team. The following season, as a sophomore, he was named captain of the boys’ squad.

“I’ve always wanted to be somewhere where I really have to work to be successful,” Galuski said. “I definitely put myself in those positions, when that should happen. It’s something I’m looking forward to, because I know it will help me reach my goals.”

“He’s a player who leads by example. He asks a lot of himself and he wants to instill that in his teammates, to work hard to get where you need to be,” said Waterford-Halfmoon boys soccer coach Ryan Hardy. “It was an easy decision to put him in that role of captain, and he took it and ran with it. He’s been very vocal, and he’s very supportive of his teammates.”

Earlier this month, Galuski decided on one of his next challenges. On July 8, Galuski announced his commitment to play Division I football at Penn State, less than a month after his recruiting window opened on June 15.

“I got a lot of calls and texts, and — obviously — one of those calls was from Penn State,” Galuski said. “I really enjoyed talking to Erica (Damback), the head coach. I felt that Penn State was where I needed to be. Whenever I talked to other schools to see if they would pique my interest, we always came back to Penn State.”

Galuski’s top five choices include Penn State, North Carolina, Tennessee, Michigan State and Notre Dame.

When it came to his college decision, Galuski kept his ultimate goals in mind.

“I want to go pro, and that’s something I’ve talked to colleges about, 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 to develop as a player and that’s exactly what I’m looking for in a college.”

Galuski will join former Division 2 standout Kennedy Ring, who graduated from 2025 Columbia High School, on the Nittany Lions. Based on current eligibility, Galuski will enter his freshman year at Penn State when Ring is a senior.

“He kept telling me I should come here and it would be great,” Galuski said of his conversation with Ring about Penn State. “We trained a lot together, but we never played on the same team. He played a lot with my older sister, Addyson.”

During her time at Waterford-Halfmoon so far, Galuski has scored a total of 116 goals between the girls and boys teams. She tallied 80 goals and 39 assists during her middle school years with the girls team and, as a seventh grader in 2022, was named the New York State Class C and Times Union Small School Player of the Year.

In his first two seasons with the boys team, he has amassed 36 goals and 30 assists. After her sophomore campaign, she was named to the boys all-state team, believed to be the first girl to do so.

“I’m proud of everything he’s done,” Hardy said. “Last year, when she was the first woman to be selected for the boys’ team of the entire government, we had a discussion that other girls would look up to her and want to be like her.

“But he knows the job isn’t done. He knows he has to keep working harder than he’s been working. Yes, he’s getting the opportunity he deserves at Penn State, but he knows he has to keep going and do even better.”

Galuski has a constant reminder of the goals she still wants to achieve from her friend Claire Hutton, a Bethlehem High School graduate who plays for Bay FC in the NWSL and is already a regular on the US women’s national team.

“It definitely gives me motivation, as my main goal is to become a pro and play for the national team,” said Galuski. “Claire is someone I can look up to, as she’s been through everything now, and she’s always there to help me when I need it.”