Winning. Winning has been a tradition and has become an expectation for the Latrobe Wildcats since the very beginning. It is expected for every sport and takes no season off. Winning doesn’t care how many people tried out for the team, how expensive the team’s equipment is, or how much school work you have to do after practice. Winning is customary at Greater Latrobe, especially with girls’ soccer due to recent seasons. 

This year, girls’ soccer prepares to have a monster rebound season after winning the section title last year, but losing in the first round of the playoffs. The girls got off to a slower start than expected after losing a late-game heartbreaker to Plum, 4-2, early in the season, and then tying against Penn-Trafford and Norwin. 

The girls are now 6-2-2 and have returned to the winning ways that are so familiar in the Wildcat community. But, returning to peak form has not been easy. With playing an intense game, it will come with some bumps and bruises. 

In the tie against Penn-Trafford early on, players were dropping with injuries from head to toe. Senior goalie Sofia Decerb says, “I have missed the first few games due to my shoulder. Then, Ava Yurko tore her ACL and will be recuperating for the rest of the season while Mackenzie Kubistek had a concussion and lost some time due to it. Ava Lorenzi and Makenna Malone both suffered head injuries.” 

Sofia also notes that players are frequently visiting the athletic trainers, Nick and Kaitlyn, to have injuries treated such as getting ankles wrapped or using the massage gun. Sophomore defender Ava Yurko, adds, “…We’ve been pretty banged up with ankles, head injuries, and problems with muscles.” 

Junior Striker, Regan Reilly brings up the point that the team has had to move players, such as Regan herself moving from midfield and defense, to foreign positions and utilize their bench deeply. They have also had to bring up some JV players in their injury struggles. 

The team has returned to its winning ways closing in on the playoffs. They have learned how to bounce back and grow stronger from their losses by watching film and polishing their skills during practice. Sofia says,” We adjust by giving us time to heal. After hard games, we take the day off to watch film, or if we have practice, it is very light.” 

Ava Yurko brings to the table how important positive team morale is. “As a team dealing with this, we just make sure that we’re always being supportive and bringing each other up.” She adds, “The team atmosphere is amazing and it’s awesome to know that there are twenty girls by your side through whatever you’re facing.”

Though the team deals with injuries on the field, Coach Morrison deals with it technically, on paper. She says, “ We have a lower number team. When injuries occur, it hits a little harder than if we have a really deep squad.” She mentions how they incorporate rest days and how they focus on plays that don’t tire the body out. 

Playoffs and seeding are just around the corner. The Latrobe Girls Soccer team expects to win its first-ever WPIAL playoff game and hopefully take it to the state level. This team is strong and they are hungry to bring home the hardware.