Deer Lakes girls soccer to lean on freshmen this season

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, August 22, 2017 | 10:48 PM

Frank Accetta flashed a smile when talking about the Deer Lakes girls soccer team.

Accetta's grin reflects cautious optimism as he welcomes a skilled, not to mention enormous, freshman class of players who to need to grow up quickly if Deer Lakes is going to qualify for the postseason for the first time in eight seasons.

“I have a bunch of talented freshmen, but I don't want to call anyone out in particular because until they play their first game, how do I know?” said Accetta, in his third year as coach. “I've been the most excited that I've been to coach a team in a long, long time because I know what I have coming up.”

Having lost eight staters from last year's team, which finished fifth in a competitive Section 2-AA, Deer Lakes (7-7-3, 3-6-3) received reinforcements from 10 freshmen who are polished for ninth-graders but have yet to endure the rigors of a WPIAL schedule.

“I foresee a major transformation this year,” Accetta said. “It's a very young team, but I have all the faith in the world in them. When you bring in a new group, the old ways kind of go out the door. I'm trying to go with the youth movement.”

While Accetta is reluctant to name any freshman starters, he said at least six of them will get the starting nod in the Sept. 1 opener against first-year program Winchester Thurston.

“When you have a bunch of freshmen, it could be either feast or famine,” Accetta said. “I don't think there's any middle ground.”

Deer Lakes lost both its scoring and assists leaders from a year ago. He will rely on just three returning starters to help balance a team that figures to have growing pains.

“If we can survive the first half of the season, I think we'll be in good shape,” Accetta said. “Once we get a few games under our belt, we'll be fine.”

Sophomore goalkeeper Gabby Weber returns a year wiser and figures to shore up the back end of the field. Senior captain Hanna Irvine moved from defense to forward, and senior Alexa Kaszubowski will start at midfield to give Deer Lakes leadership at every level.

“When I coach, I like to make sure that I have quick forwards and quick defenders so they can recover,” Accetta said. “That's probably our strong suit. I got wicked speed in the back.”

Accetta said the younger players have a lot of speed and a winning mindset, having only lost three games in their middle school careers.

“I think we're going to have a bunch of young kids, and if they pick it up early, we could have a great team. And if they don't, we're going to get leveled,” Accetta said.

Accetta likes his team's chances against most every section team, given coaching changes and roster turnover.

“I think that the one shining thing is that there's going to be teams that are in the same boat,” Accetta said. “Not only do we have to feel our way through it, but there's three teams in our section with a new coach and another that lost everyone. Everybody's got to go through it.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Deer Lakes