Yough girls remain youthful team this season

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, August 31, 2017 | 6:15 PM

Previous Next

Previous Next

Even though Yough's girls soccer team relied heavily on freshmen last fall, the squad reached the postseason.

The Cougars advanced to the quarterfinals too, as they knocked off Quaker Valley, but saw their season end at 11-7 with a 3-0 loss to Freeport.

Yough coach Dann Appolonia hopes that run benefited the young players. Now, the eight sophomores make up more than half the 15-member squad.

“The freshmen came up last year and did a great job. It's tough on freshmen. People forget they are going up against seniors, girls three or four years older. Regardless of talent level, that can be daunting,” he said.

“Typically, I've seen the biggest jump between the freshman and sophomore years. They've been in school a year and got the jitters out. I definitely expect them to make a big jump this year.

“The good part about freshmen being thrown into action right away, when they do come back out in that sophomore year, they've been there and done that. You could tell they had sort of a different look in their eyes this year. It's encouraging.”

The Cougars will have to rely on more freshmen this year, too.

“They are going to have to come in and have a big impact,” Appolonia said. “Ideally, you'd like for them to learn and take it all in. When you have 15 girls on the roster, there isn't time for that.”

Up front, Justine Appolonia returns to lead the offensive attack. The sophomore scored 20 goals last year and earned all-section honors. Freshmen Natalie Vilcheck and Jenna Leukhardt have played striker in middle school soccer.

“We expect as much or more from Justine,” Dann Appolonia said of his daughter. “We'll still be younger from an offensive standpoint. The majority of our upperclassmen will be on defense.”

Sophomore Gianna Appolonia, Justine's twin sister, returns as a starter in the midfield, along with sophomore Amber Biros. Sophomores Alexis Boyle, Mary Zipfel and Brianna Gray and freshman Nicole Croushore will see time at midfield, as well.

Emily McClaren, the team's lone senior, leads the defense. Juniors Lindsey McClaren, Sabrina Hodge and Autumn Baumeister and sophomore Hadley Sleith return on the defense. Sophomore Sara Krofcheck takes over as the starting goalkeeper.

“We look to those girls on defense to anchor us and keep us steady while we keep progressing and see what will work up top,” Dann Appolonia said. “It only takes one or two key injuries before you have you rethink what you're going to do.”

Dann Appolonia knows that winning the possession battle will be huge for the squad.

“Overall, our ball skill level is a strength. Even though our numbers low, what I like about our team is we do have good foot skills. We work on that all the time. I think we're good on the ball and composed,” he said. “When looking at our low numbers, it's important to be composed. … We can't play a kick-and-run type of a game. We have the type of skills to play the way we need to play for the numbers we have.”

Joe Sager is a freelance writer.

Tags: Yough