Litrun’s scoring, competitive fire help Deer Lakes girls soccer start 6-1

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, September 18, 2018 | 10:24 PM

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Lily Litrun has a side she only really shows on the soccer field, and only then when an opponent brings it out of her.

It’s then that the Deer Lakes sophomore striker can go from what coach Frank Accetta calls “the nicest girl in the world” to something more akin to The Incredible Hulk in Deer Lakes green.

Accetta likes that side of Litrun, so much so he finds himself hoping sometimes that an opposing player will kick Litrun in the back of the heels, or bump her, or do something else to make her angry. Because the Class AA No. 5 Lancers’ opponents wouldn’t like Litrun when she’s angry.

“Once somebody gets plucked on your team, it fires her up — but especially Lily,” Accetta said. “She has a side to her that’s ferocious. If you invoke that, thank you for doing it. She can be the nicest girl in the world, but when you get her mad, hey, she plays with a demon inside of her.”

At this point, it doesn’t take much to motivate Litrun, not after a freshman season cut short by a broken right collarbone midway through the season, when she already had racked up 14 goals.

As the saying goes, sometimes you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, and Litrun learned that the hard way as a freshman. She watched from the sidelines as Deer Lakes qualified for the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 2012, losing by one goal to Brownsville in the Class AA first round.

Three months of rehabilitation later, Litrun returned eager to help Deer Lakes (6-1) hunt a Section 2-AA title and deep postseason run.

“(The injury) was awful,” she said. “I love my team and playing with them, and it just stinks that every second I took for granted, and the seniors are being shipped off to college, that was heartbreaking. I remember bawling my eyes out as soon as I realized they were leaving, and not having another opportunity to play with them was heartbreaking.”

The injury occurred in a Section 2 game against Springdale. As Litrun raced toward the opposing goal on a breakaway, a defender brought her down from behind.

“It wasn’t nice, but I don’t blame her for what she did: I was going to not (necessarily) score, but I had a big chance to,” Litrun said.

Scoring goals became something of Litrun’s specialty as a freshman. Armed with a dangerous shot, she led the Lancers in goals even though she missed half the season.

“I think for her when the year started, no matter how good players are, it takes a while to get adjusted to it,” Accetta said. “You’re only a ninth-grader, so it’s a different scene playing under the lights. So I think the first couple games last year, starting seven freshmen last year, they’re all a bit tentative.

”… When she started hitting her stride, it was a pleasant thing to see. The kid hits rockets and can move and is very vocal and physical. It’s a great player to have on your team. When you lose someone like that, right when she hit her stride, it put a little bit of a damper on the situation.””

Litrun is hard to miss on the field. She tries to downplay her size — “5-foot-9 1/2,” she said, correcting an estimate of 5-10 — but her size and skill still make her a potential target for opposing teams.

So while playing with an edge might give Litrun an edge, she also recognizes it’s a delicate balance: a razor’s edge.

“I don’t hesitate to retaliate, which is one of my weaknesses,” she said. “I get very angry, I guess you could say. If we’re not playing to the best of our ability, that makes me really upset.”

That can be a bad thing, or it could be a good thing: In Deer Lakes’ season opener, Accetta prodded Litrun at halftime after she failed to score in the first 40 minutes. She promptly scored a hat trick in the opening 10 minutes of the second half.

Despite the hot start to her high school career, Litrun believes she has plenty of room to improve, both in the classroom and on the field, where she hopes to become a better distributor instead of just a shooter.

She already is doing some of that. Accetta said Litrun’s presence helps open up avenues for other players, and the Lancers are getting production from several other scorers: Abigail and Madeline Boulos, Jaden Cutright, Jenna Hotovac, Nina Lafko and more.

With a lineup that includes nine freshman or sophomore starters, Deer Lakes has time to win a title beyond this year. But Litrun knows the preciousness of taking advantage of opportunities, and she’d rather not wait.

“You go out there and play as hard as you can,” she said. “There’s nothing to lose. You want to get everything out there. I want a title this year, so that’d be nice if we could put everything out on the field this year. We’ve all been working together all our lives … and now we’re all here. I’m so excited. It’s insane to think how far we’ve come.”

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Deer Lakes