Confident Freeport girls motivated by WPIAL runner-up finish

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, August 24, 2017 | 6:57 PM

As Brittni Grenninger doled out plyometric workouts at the end of three-on-three mini-games at a recent practice, she assigned the longest time interval to the six players whose scrimmage ended in a tie.

The message was clear: Freeport wants to win, even in games that don't count.

Freeport, coming off the best season in program history, is aiming for even greater heights this fall. The section championship, WPIAL runner-up finish and PIAA quarterfinal appearance achieved last season now serve as a baseline for Freeport's rising program.

“Right now, I told them to take it game by game and continue to win,” said Grenninger, a former Karns City and St. Francis (Pa.) star entering her fourth season as coach. “But I think anything less than the section championship again this year would be selling ourselves short, and the motivation from last year is it was great to play at Highmark, and I think it'd be even better to win there.”

Before last season, Freeport's most recent section title came in 2006 and the previous postseason victory in 2008. They'd never reached the WPIAL championship game or the state playoffs.

After taking the Section 2-AA title with an 11-0-1 record, the Yellowjackets beat Yough in the WPIAL quarterfinals and Waynesburg in the semifinals, and made it to Highmark Stadium for the WPIAL Class AA title game. After falling to Freedom, the team bounced back with a victory over Karns City in the PIAA first round before seeing the season end with a loss to Hickory in the state quarterfinals.

“I just remember the feeling,” senior midfielder Sarah Lipniskis said. “I don't remember a whole lot of technical stuff unless I sit down and think about it, but we were all just super excited. The feeling we'd get every time we'd win and get to play another game was just so much fun.”

The playoff run registered as a major breakthrough for Freeport, which only the season before drew a double-digit seed and lost to South Park in the WPIAL first round.

“We had a lot of doubt on our team last year, and I think we just need to keep pushing through that,” sophomore forward Sidney Shemanski said. “We never thought we'd get to Highmark Stadium last year, and we just kept getting farther and farther. If we keep pushing this year, even though we may lose some games like every team, we just have to keep pushing and pushing to get there.”

Not only is the confidence up for Freeport, but so is the motivation. The most successful season in school history will do that for a program.

“We have 15 seniors this year that really want to get this,” Grenninger said. “As of right now, they're the most successful group in program history, and I think they really want to cap their career off with a WPIAL championship.

“(The experience is) nice because we finally have some good playoff experience. Prior to last year we had been one-and-done in the WPIAL playoffs, and now we have 20-some girls back, 30-some girls back who have (playoff) wins from last year under their belt. I think it just left them hungry for more.”

The Yellowjackets created buzz within the school, and the team's numbers increased to around 40 players — a bump of around 15 since Grenninger's first season, and significant, the coach pointed out, because the soccer team competes for athletes with the defending WPIAL champion volleyball team.

The amount of seniors returning brings leadership. The sheer numbers build competition, especially with key roster spots to fill.

“I think it just entices the girls to work even harder because they know there are that many more people vying for a starting spot,” Grenninger said.

Freeport must replace a strong core of seniors that included three all-WPIAL players in midfielder Olivia Gaspersic, defender Kim Mixon and goalkeeper Cassie Suran. But the Yellowjackets returnees include their top two scorers in Shemanski and senior Kaylee Comperatore, midfielders Lipniskis — a four-year starter — and Abby Bastaja, and three starting defenders in Piper Claypool, Autumn Kriebel and Hannah Stokes.

Lexi Dell and MacKenzie Hardin will slide into starting spots in the midfield, while Emily Wolfe takes over for Mixon on the back line. Grenninger said three or four players were competing for the goalkeeper spot.

“We think we have a lot of potential,” Shemanski said. “We just have to keep working, getting better at ball skills and just getting in shape for soccer.”

Section play promises to be competitive again after Freeport, Highlands and Valley advanced to the WPIAL quarterfinals and Freeport and Highlands to the semifinals last season. Freeport opens the season Sept. 2 at Karns City, a rematch of last season's PIAA first-round win, and begins section play Sept. 6 at Burrell.

“It'll be a fun year,” Grenninger said. “I'm looking forward to it.”

Tags: Freeport