STA GIRLS SOCCER A WORK IN PROGRESS
By Ben DiCola
Without a victory last fall, there seems to be just one direction the St. Thomas Aquinas girls' soccer program can take heading into a new campaign. There are a dozen players out with just one senior, goalkeeper Lanaya Hunter, who has started in goal since her freshman season. Seventh-year coach Kevin Destefano will be counting on her along with a trio of sophomores in Bridget Robertson, Bella Bacorn, and Natalia Tonnous. Junior Kendra Ford will also be counted on to help get the Knights into the win column this season.
"I do think we're going to be a lot better and more competitive," Destefano said, whose team opens the season at Sandy Valley on August 26th. Their first contest at Sirpilla Stadium is scheduled two nights later against Carrollton. "A lot of these kids played during the off season, and that will help us get up to speed. We only lost two seniors. We're a better team this year." The coach said one of the big keys to building interest and numbers in the program has to come from the players already on the team. If they can influence others to come out for soccer, that will certainly make Destefano's job much easier.
"It all starts at the middle school level," the coach added. "We're talking to incoming freshmen, and our program is from the 6th through the 12th grade. Six of our twelve players on the team are sophomores and three others are freshmen."
Destefano recalls a time when outcomes were not nearly as bleak as last year's 16 losses and a single tie. The goal now is to get back to those days of yesteryear. "Six or seven years ago when I started, we had Jaci Wilson and Molly Robertson here. Jaci went on to play Division II soccer in college at Wheeling and Molly to John Carroll. So, we have had success before and kids who won scholarships to play in college." The coach said in recent years his teams have been hampered by having families who moved out of the area.
Destefano is a 1994 Central Catholic graduate, who later played soccer at John Carroll and went on to graduate from Kent State University.
The girls will have their first game today vs. Sandy Valley, at Sandy Valley, 7 PM.
Photos: Lora Geisse Oyster