Latrobe girls soccer to rely on youth to find success

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, August 24, 2017 | 6:00 PM

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Last season, the Latrobe girls soccer team was loaded with 14 seniors. Despite that experience in their corner, the Wildcats struggled to a 1-10-2 overall record and were 0-9-1 in Section 4-AAAA.

Latrobe had a collection of reasons for its disappointing performance, like first-year coach Jamie Morrison getting acclimated with her roster and dealing with a learning curve in her new setting, to having three of the team's seniors suffer torn ACLs, along with four others sidelined with concussions.

The Wildcats, as expected after graduating that many players, will be a young team in 2017. They have two seniors and two juniors.

Latrobe returns three starters — senior Hannah Nemanic and sophomores Madison Shafron and Sophia Hoch.

“It's going to be a growing year for us,” Morrison said. “There's a lot of talent, a lot of potential. We are going to be playing around and getting used to each other. There's a good bond with the girls, so it's just kind of turning that into what we can develop on the field.”

The Wildcats have been trying different formations, including a 4-4-2, 4-3-3 and a 3-5-2 during two weeks of practice and a scrimmage against Plum.

One thing that seems set in stone is that Nemanik and Shafron, who both played center back in 2016, will be looked upon to lead the Wildcats from the back line.

“Having strong players in the back helps you because they can see everything in front, and they can help direct the players in front of them and keep everyone organized,” Morrison said.

Latrobe might rely on its more skilled players to anchor the defense, but Morrison understands the need for a better offensive attack.

In 2016, the Wildcats scored a total of six goals in 13 games. They were held scoreless in 10 games and allowed 49 goals.

“We have some freshman, Maddie Delucio and Hannah Zimmerman, that are going to look to give us a lot of push up top,” Morrison said. “They've played together out of school, so they have good chemistry on the ball together.”

The Wildcats also will rely on sophomore goalkeeper Lily Jones. She spent some time in the field last season.

“She jumped into a few games for us last year,” Morrison said. “She'll be our primary keeper this year.”

Latrobe will open against Altoona on Sept. 2, and the first section game is against the No. 2-ranked team nationally, Norwin, on Sept. 11.

“That kind of sets the bar of what we know we need to expect throughout the rest of the season,” Morrison said of facing the Knights.

“It gives me a gauge on specifically where we need to work. And that way, right from the get-go I can say, ‘OK, well we worked on this throughout the preseason, but now we're in real game situations, and I know we're going against some really challenging competition.' So we can adjust or strengthen from that.”

Tyler Handlan is a freelance writer.

Tags: Latrobe