Thanks to our continued partnership with Univest Financial, SuburbanOneSports.com is once again recognizing a male and female featured athlete each week. The recognition is given to seniors of high character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams or who have overcome adversity. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete (Week of Nov. 17, 2025)
Roya Rosala was born to lead.
Chosen captain by her field hockey teammates, the Lower Moreland senior turned out to be a perfect fit. A fact that was confirmed to coach Deb Lawlor early this fall. “We were were not playing the game that we had planned, and Roya realized this on the field and took it upon herself to call a timeout,” said Lawlor, who took over the helm of the hockey team this fall but has coached Rosala for three years in lacrosse. “They know they can call a timeout if they really feel as though we are out of kilter. I’ve had athletes do that before, and when they come over to the huddle, they think that the coach is now going to put the pieces together. Roya didn’t even look at me, and this is the power of Roya – she took her words, her feelings and emotions and compacted them into 30 seconds so eloquently, powerful, purposeful, and the team put it into
play instantaneously.”
It was a 30-second timeout that turned the tide. “The greatest thing is people listened,” Lawlor said. “When teams have a timeout and are in a huddle, the players don’t always have eye contact with the coach, but they were attentive, and they responded to her.” Several things, according to the LM coach, stand out in that story. “One, she had the wherewithal to call the timeout – she knew that we needed it,” Lawlor said. “Two, she took control of it and didn’t push blame for someone else to then pick the pieces up. Three, she had the team totally captivated and then they responded.”
As a captain, Rosala – who will be a four-year varsity lacrosse player in the spring - says she holds people accountable when needed, gives constructive criticism and also congratulates and celebrates teammate’s wins. “I also think being a leader is if you feel like you are not having your best game yourself or you aren’t feeling good about yourself - you can do whatever you can to make the players around you feel better about themselves,” the senior captain said. “If I’m having a bad game, for example, I will be like, ‘You know what – I’m going to do everything I can to get someone else an assist or get someone else a goal,’ lift other people up.” Lawlor has one more season with Rosala this spring “She’s the driving force of both teams, and that’s a beautiful driving force,” the LM coach said. “That’s not – I want the ball, so get out of my way.’ That is leading by example in making other people feel like they want that too, which is super cool.”
An important part of Rosala’s high school athletic experience has been sharing it with her twin sister, Mia. “Unfortunately, in last spring’s lacrosse season, she tore her ACL halfway through the season, so she wasn’t able to finish our lacrosse season or play hockey this fall, but she’ll be back for the spring season,” Rosala said. “I’ve loved growing up playing sports with her. We work so well together, finding our different niches inside our sports and things we’re good at because people are always like – who’s better at this sport? Who’s better at that? But we both have our own strengths, so I enjoyed that.”
An outstanding student, Rosala is a member of the National Honor Society. She is a MiniTHON captain and is part of the school’s Interact Club. Next year, she plans to major in marketing and is hoping to compete in club in both sports at the collegiate level.
Her impact at Lower Moreland will not soon be forgotten by her coach, who reiterated at Rosala’s field hockey exit interview the significance of the timeout her senior captain called – and not only because of the impact it had on the game. “I said that has a complete effect on who you will be at home as a parent, who you will be in a project in a big corporation,” the LM coach said. “I told her, ‘You’ve just done what, as a coach, I want you to become. Yes, I want you to be winners on the field, but I want strong women that are empowered to do exactly what you do in the workforce, in your home, your family and your relationships.’ It was a beautiful, beautiful thing.”
To read Rosala’s complete story, click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/rosa-rosala-00121840
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Nov. 17, 2025)
In a running family, the words and wisdom of 1972 Olympian Steve Prefontaine ring true for Council Rock North’s Matt Gosling. The quote, found on a poster on the wall of his older brother, Jack, reads: "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." Gosling, a premier distance runner, has absolutely not sacrificed the gift. “It’s a great thing to live by,” he said. ”Before every race, I just say to myself, ‘You don’t come out here to run an okay race, you came out here to run a great race.’ I think it’s just good motivation.” What that mental approach has led to is a reputation as one of the premier distance runners in the state, if not the whole region.
Career highlights for Gosling include running a personal best at the storied Penn Relays and state titles as a sophomore in cross-country and the 4x800 relay. This past cross country season, Gosling won the individual league title, was second in districts and seventh in states. All big accomplishments, considering Gosling was not a prodigy at Rock North when he arrived. “Freshman year, he was OK, but nothing really stood out
about him,” Rock North cross country coach Dave Marrington said. “Even in his sophomore year, he did pretty well, but he was still probably our third or fourth sophomore that year. Last year, as a junior, is when he really started to break out in cross country and in the indoor and outdoor track seasons. He puts in a lot of miles. He is kind of a student of the sport. Cross country and track are very individualistic. What might work for one kid won’t work at all for another kid.”
Marrington praised Gosling for being a strong leader as tri-captain of a Rock North squad that won a state title when he was a sophomore, a pinnacle that hangs out there. “He has goals,” the Rock North coach said. “He wants to be on state championship team again before he graduates. He has always been a really good student. He got a 1450 on the SAT, and that’s on top of being one of the better runners in Pennsylvania. We elect our captains, so the kids voted for him. He does what he needs to do, mostly just with making sure the kids are getting to practice on time and doing what they are supposed to be doing outside of school. A lot of it is reminding them that we are part of a team and not to do anything stupid.”
Gosling was able to get his college decision off his plate in September by choosing Penn State University. “It’s good that he has that out of the way for winter track and spring,” said Marrington. According to Gosling, Penn State sold itself. “I was talking to a few coaches, but the Penn State coach was just a really nice person,” said the math whiz who plans to major in finance. “The whole team was really nice to me. I went up there for a visit. I went to a football game, and I just really fell in love with the campus. After that visit, it was really a pretty easy decision for me. I knew that was where I wanted to be for the next four years.”
Gosling lost his mother, Alwyn Gosling, to cancer when was 10. “That’s part of the reason I got into running.,” said Gosling. “It was an escape.” As it is, his stepmother, Mary Jo, was a runner at Syracuse and one of his most vocal supporters. “My stepmom ran at Syracuse, and she has always loved coming out to my races,” said Gosling. “She picks the best part of the course, maybe 1K before the finish, and I hear her screaming for me.” But it all starts with dad, a former distance runner in high school, who got his sons involved. “My dad has played an amazing role in my success,” said Gosling. “I don’t know where I’d be without him.” He also wanted to thank his coaches. “My coaches (Marrington and Rob Rogers) are both amazing coaches,” said Gosling. “My brother is two years older than me, but we started running at a similar time. We would go back and forth, just a friendly competition, and I beat him out in the end. I went from 5:30 in the mile in middle school score to 4:30 in high school, so you could see how much I improved.”
To read Gosling’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/matt-gosling-00121843
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