Program Notes for the Week of 7/30/2012:
Calendar for this Week:
Monday & Wednesday - Conditioning 7:30 - 9:00 a.m. at Troy
Tuesday & Thursday - Open Play 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. at Troy
Olympic Soccer:
The women are off to a good start in pool play with a victories over France & Columbia for 2-0 record. Their next game is on Tues. 7/31 at legendary Old Trafford vs. North Korea at 12:15 p.m. Quarterfinals are on Fri. 8/3, Semifinals on Mon. 8/6, and the final on Thurs. 8/9. I believe most of these games are being televised on channel 323 in Avon Lake. Google for a more exact listing.
I wish the US team could avoid the controversy that always seems to surround them. It leaves a bad impression with the rest of the world. Every day something new pops up especially with Hope Solo & Abby Wambach. They are not positive role models for our girls to follow. Much better role models for the girls would be former Shoregals Annette Ilg, Jeannie Stuckey, & Meg Ryan who excelled athletically, academically, exhibited good sportmanship, and have solid personal lives.
Septic Shock Alert:
Something for all parents to at least be aware of is septic shock/septic poisoning. The attached article reveals how dangerous this can be and how easily it can be contracted. Please give it a quick read.
Gym class cut leads to deadly sepsis in boy, 12
20th Anniversary of Shoregal Soccer:
This season we will celebrate 20 years of Shoregal soccer. That is a long time and we have had a lot of terrific girls pass through our program over the years who have set the bar high for future generations. Each week, we are going to highlight some of the important games and important people to the program over these last 20 years.
This week we will feature the Shoregals first win vs. Bay Village:
If one team in the history of Shoregal soccer has given us fits it would be Bay. In the first 12 years of our program, Bay was unbeatable for us. We had never beaten them in 17 games in which we lost 15 times and managed 2 ties. Then in 2005, things began to change. On a dreary September night at the Bay stadium, the Shoregals did something unheard of - they defeated Bay 1-0 at Bay no less. By this point, it had become a given that Bay would beat Avon Lake - a guaranteed W on the schedule. So, a very confident Bay team took the field that night and was not expecting the batlle they would get from the Shoregals. The 2005 team is probably the most talented team 1 through 20 that we have ever fielded. There was either a star or solid player at every single position. Our team had All-Ohio players, multi-sport stars, and future college players all over the field that night.
The teams battled to a 0-0 tie at the half and there was this little feeling in the back of everyone's mind that maybe this time it would be different. The two teams continued to battle to a scoreless draw throughout the second half. Then with about 10 minutes to go Bri Kenny forced a Bay girl to lose a ball out of bounds at midfield and then a couple of passes later the ball found the foot of Lisa Wilson who was left open on the right side of the field. She collected the ball, got herself set for a shot and blasted the ball past the Bay goalie. The fired up Shoregals now had to brace themselves for an onslaught from Bay. The Bay girls did come at the Shoregals hard and got off a number of good shots, but the AL defense led by sweeper Sarah Richardson and All-Ohio goalie Caitlin Bodzioney was equal to the task. When the final whistle sounded, there was pandemonium on the field as they had finally beaten Bay. The pure joy of the moment was amazing as the girls were literally rocking the school bus the whole way back to Avon Lake. I have never heard that much noise come out of a school bus. That win set up a turnaround in the AL - Bay series as from 2005-2009 our record vs. Bay was 2-1-2. Unfortunately, after Bay left the SWC they eventually dropped us from their schedule and thus ended a great rivalry which featured many well played, competitive games through the years.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
News for the Week of July 23, 2012
Program Notes for the Week of 7/23/2012:
Strongsville Showcase Wrap-up:
Another hot weekend of soccer in Strongsville! Our Varsity team did well against a difficult schedule and went 1-2-2 on the weekend and were competitive in every game. Still a lot of things to work on, but the girls got off to a good start. The JV team went 3-1-1 and the Freshman team was strong also. The girls have this week off and then it is back to conditioning on the week of the 30th and then the following week it will be tryouts with the start of the season not far behind.
Continental Cup:
We had 3 girls from our Shoregals play in the Continental Cup a few weeks back. Clare Adams, Sarah Nasr, and Rada Zunich played as a part of the Cleveland United U15 team. Their team played an age group up and went on to win the U16 age bracket by beating four teams from Canada and one from Puerto Rico. In the semi-final game, which went to penalty kicks, Sarah Nasr scored the tying penalty kick to help her team to victory. United then went on to win the finals game by a score of 2-0 over St. Catherines, Ontario. For the weekend, the United team gave up only 1 goal in 6 games.
20th Anniversary of Shoregal Soccer:
This season we will celebrate 20 years of Shoregal soccer. That is a long time and we have had a lot of terrific girls pass through our program over the years who have set the bar high for future generations. Each week, we are going to highlight some of the important games and important people to the program over these last 20 years.
This week we will feature Megan (Ryan) Lamb:
Meg Ryan was one of the greatest athletes to ever wear a Shoregals uniform. She was a 3 sport player who earned 12 letters in her HS days. In soccer, Meg was a 4 year Varsity player whose career spanned the years from 1996-1999. She is the Shoregal career leader in goals scored (59), assists (49), and points (167). She also holds the record for most assists in a season with 19 and most points with 69. Consider her stats from her sophomore season of 1997 - 25 goals and 19 assists for a total of 69 points - Wow! Of course, she picked up many honors along the way including All Greater Cleveland 1st team- soph. junior, & senior years. All Lorain County 1st team - soph. junior & senior years. Team MVP - soph, junior, & senior years and All-Ohio 3rd team her senior year.
As good as a soccer player that she was, she may have been even a better basketball player. She was a four year Varsity player with the Shoregals who scored over 1,000 points in her career and was on two conference championship teams. She racked up many honors in basketball also including SWC 1st team - soph, junior, & senior years. All Lorain County 1st team - soph. junior & senior years. Team MVP - soph, junior, & senior years. Topping it off with Honorable Mention All-Ohio - soph. junior, & senior years.
In the Spring, she also ran Varsity track for all 4 years. Her Senior year, she was named as the ALHS Outstanding Female Athlete and it is pretty easy to understand why. She set a high standard for future Shoregals to try and match.
Shorty Sez:
"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard".
This phrase has been quoted by many people including most recently Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder & the USA Olympic team. Herb Brooks, coach of the "Miracle on Ice" 1980 US Olympic hockey team has used this quote. Tim Tebow has also used this quote. It is a good one and kind of fits our team this year.
Strongsville Showcase Wrap-up:
Another hot weekend of soccer in Strongsville! Our Varsity team did well against a difficult schedule and went 1-2-2 on the weekend and were competitive in every game. Still a lot of things to work on, but the girls got off to a good start. The JV team went 3-1-1 and the Freshman team was strong also. The girls have this week off and then it is back to conditioning on the week of the 30th and then the following week it will be tryouts with the start of the season not far behind.
Continental Cup:
We had 3 girls from our Shoregals play in the Continental Cup a few weeks back. Clare Adams, Sarah Nasr, and Rada Zunich played as a part of the Cleveland United U15 team. Their team played an age group up and went on to win the U16 age bracket by beating four teams from Canada and one from Puerto Rico. In the semi-final game, which went to penalty kicks, Sarah Nasr scored the tying penalty kick to help her team to victory. United then went on to win the finals game by a score of 2-0 over St. Catherines, Ontario. For the weekend, the United team gave up only 1 goal in 6 games.
20th Anniversary of Shoregal Soccer:
This season we will celebrate 20 years of Shoregal soccer. That is a long time and we have had a lot of terrific girls pass through our program over the years who have set the bar high for future generations. Each week, we are going to highlight some of the important games and important people to the program over these last 20 years.
This week we will feature Megan (Ryan) Lamb:
Meg Ryan was one of the greatest athletes to ever wear a Shoregals uniform. She was a 3 sport player who earned 12 letters in her HS days. In soccer, Meg was a 4 year Varsity player whose career spanned the years from 1996-1999. She is the Shoregal career leader in goals scored (59), assists (49), and points (167). She also holds the record for most assists in a season with 19 and most points with 69. Consider her stats from her sophomore season of 1997 - 25 goals and 19 assists for a total of 69 points - Wow! Of course, she picked up many honors along the way including All Greater Cleveland 1st team- soph. junior, & senior years. All Lorain County 1st team - soph. junior & senior years. Team MVP - soph, junior, & senior years and All-Ohio 3rd team her senior year.
As good as a soccer player that she was, she may have been even a better basketball player. She was a four year Varsity player with the Shoregals who scored over 1,000 points in her career and was on two conference championship teams. She racked up many honors in basketball also including SWC 1st team - soph, junior, & senior years. All Lorain County 1st team - soph. junior & senior years. Team MVP - soph, junior, & senior years. Topping it off with Honorable Mention All-Ohio - soph. junior, & senior years.
In the Spring, she also ran Varsity track for all 4 years. Her Senior year, she was named as the ALHS Outstanding Female Athlete and it is pretty easy to understand why. She set a high standard for future Shoregals to try and match.
Shorty Sez:
"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard".
This phrase has been quoted by many people including most recently Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder & the USA Olympic team. Herb Brooks, coach of the "Miracle on Ice" 1980 US Olympic hockey team has used this quote. Tim Tebow has also used this quote. It is a good one and kind of fits our team this year.
Monday, July 16, 2012
News for the Week of July 16, 2012
Program Notes for the Week of 7/16/2012:
Weekly Schedule:
This is a coaches contact week and the schedule will look as follows:
Two a day practices on Mon., Tues., Weds. 716 - 7/18
7:30 - 9:00 am - Fitness training at Troy
3:30 - 5:00 p.m. - Skills practice at Troy
On Saturday 7/21 & Sun. 7/22 we will have 3 teams entered in the Strongsville Showcase. Schedules have been sent out by e-mail and may also be viewed at:
http://www.anss.us/teams/girlsschedule/
Alumni Game & Picnic:
Fun time at the Alumni game on Saturday for those who were able to attend. We had 18 alumni come out and they had the most fun, of course, as they prevailed 4-1 over the Shoregals. Alumni goals were scored by Ali Kenny, Jamie Bush, & Danielle Liszka. The Alumni have a number of All-Ohio players on their side and a bunch of other really good athletes, so they are always going to be competitive for the foreseeable future. Just wait to next year old timers!!
The Alumni squad was made up of the following:
Sarah Lyons - Class of 2007
Alana Bilancini - Class of 2008
Jamie Bush - Class of 2008
Nicole Haas - Class of 2008
Bri Kenny - Class of 2008
Sammy Stuart - Class of 2008
Ali Kenny - Class of 2010
Tani Lopez - Class of 2010
Bridget Lyons - Class of 2010
Mary Donegan - Class of 2011
Sarah Hudson - Class of 2011
Morgan Srail - Class of 2011
Paige Glasser - Class of 2012
Danielle Liszka - Class of 2012
Annie Lyons - Class of 2012
Lindsay Quintero - Class of 2012
Dana Strimbu - Class of 2012
Jillian Strimbu - Class of 2012
Also Maddie Bernard '11 came over to visit. A big thank you goes to Dawn Corrigan who was my main assistant for the event.
Shorty Sez:
“The Vision of a Champion is someone who is bent over, drenched in sweat, and at the point of exhaustion, when no one else is watching.”
-- Anson Dorrance, Head Women's Soccer Coach, University of North Carolina
Weekly Schedule:
This is a coaches contact week and the schedule will look as follows:
Two a day practices on Mon., Tues., Weds. 716 - 7/18
7:30 - 9:00 am - Fitness training at Troy
3:30 - 5:00 p.m. - Skills practice at Troy
On Saturday 7/21 & Sun. 7/22 we will have 3 teams entered in the Strongsville Showcase. Schedules have been sent out by e-mail and may also be viewed at:
http://www.anss.us/teams/girlsschedule/
Alumni Game & Picnic:
Fun time at the Alumni game on Saturday for those who were able to attend. We had 18 alumni come out and they had the most fun, of course, as they prevailed 4-1 over the Shoregals. Alumni goals were scored by Ali Kenny, Jamie Bush, & Danielle Liszka. The Alumni have a number of All-Ohio players on their side and a bunch of other really good athletes, so they are always going to be competitive for the foreseeable future. Just wait to next year old timers!!
The Alumni squad was made up of the following:
Sarah Lyons - Class of 2007
Alana Bilancini - Class of 2008
Jamie Bush - Class of 2008
Nicole Haas - Class of 2008
Bri Kenny - Class of 2008
Sammy Stuart - Class of 2008
Ali Kenny - Class of 2010
Tani Lopez - Class of 2010
Bridget Lyons - Class of 2010
Mary Donegan - Class of 2011
Sarah Hudson - Class of 2011
Morgan Srail - Class of 2011
Paige Glasser - Class of 2012
Danielle Liszka - Class of 2012
Annie Lyons - Class of 2012
Lindsay Quintero - Class of 2012
Dana Strimbu - Class of 2012
Jillian Strimbu - Class of 2012
Also Maddie Bernard '11 came over to visit. A big thank you goes to Dawn Corrigan who was my main assistant for the event.
Shorty Sez:
“The Vision of a Champion is someone who is bent over, drenched in sweat, and at the point of exhaustion, when no one else is watching.”
-- Anson Dorrance, Head Women's Soccer Coach, University of North Carolina
Monday, July 9, 2012
News for the Week of July 9, 2012
Program Notes for the Week of 7/9/2012:
Shorepal Meeting:
Mark your calendars - the next Shorepal meeting will be held on Tuesday July 10th at 7:30 p.m. at the Old Firehouse at the corner of Lake Rd. and Rt.83. We will be making our final plans for the Alumni game and reviewing the rest of the summer's events. Hope to see you there!
Alumni Game:
The annual Alumni Game & Picnic will be held on Saturday July 14th at 3:00 p.m. at Walker Road Park. We will start play around 3:00 p.m. with food and fellowship to follow. Let any Alumni you run across know about this year's game and have them rsvp with shirt size to sixkennys@oh.rr.com.
20th Anniversary of Shoregal Soccer:
This season we will celebrate 20 years of Shoregal soccer. That is a long time and we have had a lot of terrific girls pass through our program over the years who have set the bar high for future generations. Each week, we are going to highlight some of the important games and important people to the program over these last 20 years.
This week we will feature the 2006 Regional Semi-final game:
The Shoregals first trip to the Regional tournament would, of course, be one of the biggest games in program history. This game would pit the Shoregals against Toledo powerhouse St. Ursula Academy. This would be another emotionally charged game as the death of Gino Strippoli hung over the team. As we wrote about in a previous installment longtime youth coach, referee, and administrator Gino Strippoli had died of an heart attack during the District championship game the previous Saturday. His funeral and burial was held on the day of the game and the girls team was excused from classes to attend the funeral. An event of this magnitude for teenage girls definitely affected their focus on the game and created a strange vibe on the day. On the lighter side, the athletic dept. provided a charter bus for them to ride to the game which took place in Ashland. This was a surprise to the girls and quite a change from the normal yellow school bus.
As to the game itself, as we have written about previously, Avon Lake was a decided underdog in this game as it had been all through the playoffs. The team had finished the season with a .500 record and had started the season 0-4. But the team had gotten hot in the playoffs and won all four of its games by shutting out its opponent in each game. Not one goal given up in the playoffs and this was done with a Freshman goalie in Bridget Lyons. In the first half, the game was very evenly matched as the Shoregals were competitive with heavily favored St. Ursula. About midway through the first half, a St. Ursula player found some open space on the right side of the Avon Lake defense about 30 yards out from goal and sent a rocket towards the AL goal which just grazed off the hands of Lyons and into the back of the net. St. Ursula carried that 1-0 lead into halftime. In the second half, the Shoregals came out with a purpose. Head coach Caleb Reutter made some adjustments at half time to turn the Shoregals into a more attacking offensive style. The girls really started to take the game to St. Ursula and created a number of great scoring opportunities, but just could not get the finish that they needed and fell by the 1-0 score. This was a game that they definitely could have won and maybe if the emotional events of the day had been different a more focused team would have been on the field that day. Still a great season for the girls as they ended up 10-7-3 and gave up only that one long goal during the playoffs. The game ended on a down note as with just a few minutes remaining a St. Ursula player hit our Chrissy Ward so hard after a play that it knocked her out of bounds and gave her a concussion. She literally flew through the air and landed on her head and neck. The game had to be stopped for about 20 mins. as an ambulance came to take Chrissy to the hospital. She ended up with both the concession and a neck brace. A rough initiation for the Shoregals to the world of Regional play, but we would love to get back there again and this time win that game!
Shorepal Meeting:
Mark your calendars - the next Shorepal meeting will be held on Tuesday July 10th at 7:30 p.m. at the Old Firehouse at the corner of Lake Rd. and Rt.83. We will be making our final plans for the Alumni game and reviewing the rest of the summer's events. Hope to see you there!
Alumni Game:
The annual Alumni Game & Picnic will be held on Saturday July 14th at 3:00 p.m. at Walker Road Park. We will start play around 3:00 p.m. with food and fellowship to follow. Let any Alumni you run across know about this year's game and have them rsvp with shirt size to sixkennys@oh.rr.com.
20th Anniversary of Shoregal Soccer:
This season we will celebrate 20 years of Shoregal soccer. That is a long time and we have had a lot of terrific girls pass through our program over the years who have set the bar high for future generations. Each week, we are going to highlight some of the important games and important people to the program over these last 20 years.
This week we will feature the 2006 Regional Semi-final game:
The Shoregals first trip to the Regional tournament would, of course, be one of the biggest games in program history. This game would pit the Shoregals against Toledo powerhouse St. Ursula Academy. This would be another emotionally charged game as the death of Gino Strippoli hung over the team. As we wrote about in a previous installment longtime youth coach, referee, and administrator Gino Strippoli had died of an heart attack during the District championship game the previous Saturday. His funeral and burial was held on the day of the game and the girls team was excused from classes to attend the funeral. An event of this magnitude for teenage girls definitely affected their focus on the game and created a strange vibe on the day. On the lighter side, the athletic dept. provided a charter bus for them to ride to the game which took place in Ashland. This was a surprise to the girls and quite a change from the normal yellow school bus.
As to the game itself, as we have written about previously, Avon Lake was a decided underdog in this game as it had been all through the playoffs. The team had finished the season with a .500 record and had started the season 0-4. But the team had gotten hot in the playoffs and won all four of its games by shutting out its opponent in each game. Not one goal given up in the playoffs and this was done with a Freshman goalie in Bridget Lyons. In the first half, the game was very evenly matched as the Shoregals were competitive with heavily favored St. Ursula. About midway through the first half, a St. Ursula player found some open space on the right side of the Avon Lake defense about 30 yards out from goal and sent a rocket towards the AL goal which just grazed off the hands of Lyons and into the back of the net. St. Ursula carried that 1-0 lead into halftime. In the second half, the Shoregals came out with a purpose. Head coach Caleb Reutter made some adjustments at half time to turn the Shoregals into a more attacking offensive style. The girls really started to take the game to St. Ursula and created a number of great scoring opportunities, but just could not get the finish that they needed and fell by the 1-0 score. This was a game that they definitely could have won and maybe if the emotional events of the day had been different a more focused team would have been on the field that day. Still a great season for the girls as they ended up 10-7-3 and gave up only that one long goal during the playoffs. The game ended on a down note as with just a few minutes remaining a St. Ursula player hit our Chrissy Ward so hard after a play that it knocked her out of bounds and gave her a concussion. She literally flew through the air and landed on her head and neck. The game had to be stopped for about 20 mins. as an ambulance came to take Chrissy to the hospital. She ended up with both the concession and a neck brace. A rough initiation for the Shoregals to the world of Regional play, but we would love to get back there again and this time win that game!
Monday, June 25, 2012
News for the Week of June 25, 2012
Program Notes for the Week of 6/25/2012:
Shorepal Meeting:
Mark your calendars - the next Shorepal meeting will be held on Tuesday July 10th at 7:30 p.m. at the Old Firehouse at the corner of Lake Rd. and Rt.83. We will be making our final plans for the Alumni game and reviewing the rest of the summer's events. Hope to see you there!
Alumni Game:
The annual Alumni Game & Picnic will be held on Saturday July 14th at 3:00 p.m. at Walker Road Park. We will start play around 3:00 p.m. with food and fellowship to follow. Let any Alumni you run across know about this year's game and have them rsvp with shirt size to sixkennys@oh.rr.com.
20th Anniversary of Shoregal Soccer:
This season we will celebrate 20 years of Shoregal soccer. That is a long time and we have had a lot of terrific girls pass through our program over the years who have set the bar high for future generations. Each week, we are going to highlight some of the important games and important people to the program over these last 20 years.
This week we will feature Jeannie (Stuckey) Lewis:
If one player could be chosen as the greatest in Shoregal history, then a compelling case could be made for Jeannie Stuckey, class of 2001, based on her total body of work. Jeannie only played two years with Avon Lake High School as her family moved to Ohio from Gainesville, Fla. for her junior and senior years. She was already a star player in the Gainesville area and was Player of the Year her sophomore season at Eastside HS. She scored an incredible 68 goals and contributed 49 assists her freshman and sophomore years at Eastside. She continued as a high level player at ALHS and scored a total of 41 goals and rang up 21 assists. If you do the math, her career totals were 109 goals and 70 assists. Truly remarkable numbers! Her goal total ranks her 20th all time in the State of Ohio and her assist total ranks her 4th all time! She was the first Shoregal named as MVP of the Southwestern Conference and was 2nd team All-Ohio both in 2000. The Shoregals reached the District championship game in both of her seasons. She also was a part of two of the highest scoring teams in Shoregal history and formed a deadly scoring combination with Meg Ryan in 1999 and Kelsey King in 2000. Jeannie still holds the Shoregal record for most goals in a season with 26.
After high school, Jeannie went on to star at the Unviersity of Akron. She was part of the first Varsity team in school history in 2001 and helped to establish the women's program at Akron. She is still the program's all time leader in points, goals, game winning goals, and assists. She is at the top of practically every offensive category where stats are kept. Just a magnificent career and she remains a big fan of the current Shoregals.
Soccer Site of the Week:
This week we are going to present some links from the Women's Sports Foundation that deal with girls dropping out of sports around the time that they enter high school. This year is the 40th anniversary of the Title IX legislation which opened up sports participation to girls on a broader basis. Now it seems that girls are actually participating less frequently in sports and the WSF has some tips on what you can do to keep your daughters involved. See the links below at:
http://bit.ly/LjFM02
http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/
Euro 2012:
There will be some great soccer on TV this week as the Euro 2012 tournament is down to 4 teams. On Wednesday 6/27 it will be Portugal vs. Spain and on Thursday 6/28 it will be Germany vs. Italy. On Sunday July 1st, the championship game will be played. All games are on ESPN and will start at 2:45 p.m. Should be great soccer!
Shorepal Meeting:
Mark your calendars - the next Shorepal meeting will be held on Tuesday July 10th at 7:30 p.m. at the Old Firehouse at the corner of Lake Rd. and Rt.83. We will be making our final plans for the Alumni game and reviewing the rest of the summer's events. Hope to see you there!
Alumni Game:
The annual Alumni Game & Picnic will be held on Saturday July 14th at 3:00 p.m. at Walker Road Park. We will start play around 3:00 p.m. with food and fellowship to follow. Let any Alumni you run across know about this year's game and have them rsvp with shirt size to sixkennys@oh.rr.com.
20th Anniversary of Shoregal Soccer:
This season we will celebrate 20 years of Shoregal soccer. That is a long time and we have had a lot of terrific girls pass through our program over the years who have set the bar high for future generations. Each week, we are going to highlight some of the important games and important people to the program over these last 20 years.
This week we will feature Jeannie (Stuckey) Lewis:
If one player could be chosen as the greatest in Shoregal history, then a compelling case could be made for Jeannie Stuckey, class of 2001, based on her total body of work. Jeannie only played two years with Avon Lake High School as her family moved to Ohio from Gainesville, Fla. for her junior and senior years. She was already a star player in the Gainesville area and was Player of the Year her sophomore season at Eastside HS. She scored an incredible 68 goals and contributed 49 assists her freshman and sophomore years at Eastside. She continued as a high level player at ALHS and scored a total of 41 goals and rang up 21 assists. If you do the math, her career totals were 109 goals and 70 assists. Truly remarkable numbers! Her goal total ranks her 20th all time in the State of Ohio and her assist total ranks her 4th all time! She was the first Shoregal named as MVP of the Southwestern Conference and was 2nd team All-Ohio both in 2000. The Shoregals reached the District championship game in both of her seasons. She also was a part of two of the highest scoring teams in Shoregal history and formed a deadly scoring combination with Meg Ryan in 1999 and Kelsey King in 2000. Jeannie still holds the Shoregal record for most goals in a season with 26.
After high school, Jeannie went on to star at the Unviersity of Akron. She was part of the first Varsity team in school history in 2001 and helped to establish the women's program at Akron. She is still the program's all time leader in points, goals, game winning goals, and assists. She is at the top of practically every offensive category where stats are kept. Just a magnificent career and she remains a big fan of the current Shoregals.
Soccer Site of the Week:
This week we are going to present some links from the Women's Sports Foundation that deal with girls dropping out of sports around the time that they enter high school. This year is the 40th anniversary of the Title IX legislation which opened up sports participation to girls on a broader basis. Now it seems that girls are actually participating less frequently in sports and the WSF has some tips on what you can do to keep your daughters involved. See the links below at:
http://bit.ly/LjFM02
http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/
Euro 2012:
There will be some great soccer on TV this week as the Euro 2012 tournament is down to 4 teams. On Wednesday 6/27 it will be Portugal vs. Spain and on Thursday 6/28 it will be Germany vs. Italy. On Sunday July 1st, the championship game will be played. All games are on ESPN and will start at 2:45 p.m. Should be great soccer!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
News for the Week of June 18, 2012
Program Notes for the Week of 6/18/2012:
Father's Day Weekend:
I just want to take a minute to thank everyone who helped out with fundraising events over the past weekend. Special thanks go to our Duct Tape festival coordinator Ann Stonecipher, our site coordinators for the Father's Day Tournament - Ken & Suzanne Krause and Paul & Amy Kress. We want to thank our purchasing team of Jill Werling Quinn & Leoma Berroteran. Also, thanks to Jill for letting us use her garage as our HQ. We can't forget Anita & Megan Braye for taking care of our ice requirements. That is a huge help and cost savings for us. Also, a big thank you to all the parents who worked at the various venues during the weekend. We had a number of parents who worked two shifts and that really helped us make the weekend.
Alumni Game:
With Father's Day behind us, it is now time to turn our attention to the annual Alumni Game & Picnic. This year's game will be held on Saturday July 14th at 3:00 p.m. at Walker Road Park. We will start play around 3:00 with food and fellowship to follow. Let any Alumni you run across know about this year's game.
Northern Ohio Girls Soccer League Scholarship Winner:
We are thrilled to report that senior Annie Lyons was the recipient of a NOGSL scholarship in the amount of $2,000. The scholarship is based on academics, activities, community service, leadership, and an essay on the subject of your most memorable moment playing in the NOGSL. This makes two consecutive years we have had Shoregals receive this scholarship as Annie joins Maddie Bernard from last year. Congrats to Annie!!
Gino Strippoli Memorial Scholarship:
This scholarship honors the memory of long time Avon Lake coach, referee, and volunteer Gino Strippoli who died while refereeing a game in 2006. Two $1,000 scholarships are awarded annually to deserving high school seniors who exemplify the spirit of Gino's dedication to soccer and community.
This year's female recipient was Jocey Spitz of ALHS. Congrats to Jocey!!
Past recipients are as follows:
2011 - Sarah Hudson
2010 - Bridget Lyons
2009 - Laura Rickey
2008 - Sammy Stuart
2007 - Sarah Lyons
Concussion Testing:
We are all becoming aware of the dangers of concussions in contact sports such as soccer. With that in mind, ALHS is becoming proactive in this area and will be administering two different concussion tests to our soccer athletes this year. The first one known as the C3 test will take place this Thursday 6/21 at the high school in the gym area. All should be there for this testing as it provides the baseline for future comparisons, if needed, in case of a concussion. This is new this year for soccer players and it is important, so make every effort to be there.
20th Anniversary of Shoregal Soccer:
With all the hectic activity of the Father's Day weekend, we will take a break this week. But, we will be back next week with some more great memories from the first 20 years of Shoregal soccer!
Father's Day Weekend:
I just want to take a minute to thank everyone who helped out with fundraising events over the past weekend. Special thanks go to our Duct Tape festival coordinator Ann Stonecipher, our site coordinators for the Father's Day Tournament - Ken & Suzanne Krause and Paul & Amy Kress. We want to thank our purchasing team of Jill Werling Quinn & Leoma Berroteran. Also, thanks to Jill for letting us use her garage as our HQ. We can't forget Anita & Megan Braye for taking care of our ice requirements. That is a huge help and cost savings for us. Also, a big thank you to all the parents who worked at the various venues during the weekend. We had a number of parents who worked two shifts and that really helped us make the weekend.
Alumni Game:
With Father's Day behind us, it is now time to turn our attention to the annual Alumni Game & Picnic. This year's game will be held on Saturday July 14th at 3:00 p.m. at Walker Road Park. We will start play around 3:00 with food and fellowship to follow. Let any Alumni you run across know about this year's game.
Northern Ohio Girls Soccer League Scholarship Winner:
We are thrilled to report that senior Annie Lyons was the recipient of a NOGSL scholarship in the amount of $2,000. The scholarship is based on academics, activities, community service, leadership, and an essay on the subject of your most memorable moment playing in the NOGSL. This makes two consecutive years we have had Shoregals receive this scholarship as Annie joins Maddie Bernard from last year. Congrats to Annie!!
Gino Strippoli Memorial Scholarship:
This scholarship honors the memory of long time Avon Lake coach, referee, and volunteer Gino Strippoli who died while refereeing a game in 2006. Two $1,000 scholarships are awarded annually to deserving high school seniors who exemplify the spirit of Gino's dedication to soccer and community.
This year's female recipient was Jocey Spitz of ALHS. Congrats to Jocey!!
Past recipients are as follows:
2011 - Sarah Hudson
2010 - Bridget Lyons
2009 - Laura Rickey
2008 - Sammy Stuart
2007 - Sarah Lyons
Concussion Testing:
We are all becoming aware of the dangers of concussions in contact sports such as soccer. With that in mind, ALHS is becoming proactive in this area and will be administering two different concussion tests to our soccer athletes this year. The first one known as the C3 test will take place this Thursday 6/21 at the high school in the gym area. All should be there for this testing as it provides the baseline for future comparisons, if needed, in case of a concussion. This is new this year for soccer players and it is important, so make every effort to be there.
20th Anniversary of Shoregal Soccer:
With all the hectic activity of the Father's Day weekend, we will take a break this week. But, we will be back next week with some more great memories from the first 20 years of Shoregal soccer!
Sunday, June 10, 2012
News for the Week of June 11, 2012
Program Notes for the Week of 6/11/2012:
Coaches Contact Days:
Just a reminder that a series of four coaches contact days will be held this week on Mon. thru Thurs. It will be a combination of fitness training along with defensive and offensive skills training. The sessions will be held at Troy at 7:00 a.m. and will last to approx. 8:30 a.m.
New Varsity Assistant Coach Named:
We have some good news to report as we would like to announce a new assistant coach for the Varsity. His name is Todd Kauffman and he is a 2005 graduate of ALHS where he played Varsity soccer all 4 years for the boys team. His senior year he was named to the first team All_SWC along with being named numerous times to All County teams and All Greater Cleveland teams throughout his career. He also lettered in Cross Country and Track for 3 years and was an impressive all around athlete. After high school, he attended Ohio University where he graduated in 2010 with degrees in communication and video production. He is currently an employee with Avon Lake City Schools. Please join me in welcoming Todd to the girls program!
20th Anniversary of Shoregal Soccer:
This season we will celebrate 20 years of Shoregal soccer. That is a long time and we have had a lot of terrific girls pass through our program over the years who have set the bar high for future generations. Each week, we are going to highlight some of the important games and important people to the program over these last 20 years.
This week we will feature the 2006 District championship game:
It is hard to pick out one game as the greatest game in program history, but this game would probably fit that bill. Not only for the importance of the game, but for all the events and emotions that surrounded the game. There were many levels to this game and its effects were felt for years afterward.
The game was played on Saturday afternoon 10/28/06 against a powerful Magnificat team in which the Shoregals were a decided underdog. In fact, it was noticed that the Magnificat parents had a brought a "Congratulations District Champions" cake into the stadium before the game started - that's how sure they felt about this game. No one was picking Avon Lake to win this game as the Shoregals came into the playoffs with a very average record of 6-6-3 and had started the season 0-4. But during the playoffs, the Shoregals got hot and won their first three playoff games all by shutout to reach the District championship game.
The game was originally scheduled to be a home game for the Shoregals, but the night before the Shoremen football game was played in a driving rainstorm in old Memorial Stadium which featured a grass field. The football game rendered the field unplayable for the District game and it was moved to Rocky River which had an all weather turf field. This game ended up being used for years as one of the main justifications for installing the turf field that is in existence today in Memorial Stadium.
As for the game itself, the Shoregals and Magnificat battled to a 0-0 tie through 80 minutes of regulation time. Avon Lake really had the better scoring opportunities throughout the game as they had 5 solid chances where the Mags goalie was out of position, but failed to put it in the back of the net. Adding to the drama were adverse weather conditions. A typical fall day in northern Ohio where every season was represented. It was a cold day and was raining during many parts of the game. The rain at one point turned to sleet and frozen pellets mixed in with some snow. Then during the second half, the skies cleared and the sun actually came out, but by the end of the game the snow had come back. While the action was taking place on the field, there was also drama in the stands. Word had circulated through the stands that Gino Strippoli a long time coach, referee, and board member of the Avon Lake Soccer Organization had been rushed to the hospital with a heart attack while reffing a game in Lodi.
Back on the field, the girls has finished regulation time in a 0-0 tie which meant that two 5 minute overtime periods would be played with the team that scored first the winner. Through the first overtime period, neither team was able to score. Meanwhile, up in the stands the incredibly tragic news came that Gino had died from the heart attack. A very weird vibe swept through the stands as the sadness of hearing about Gino was mixed with the intense rooting for the girls to win this game. Then it happened - the Shoregals were awarded a corner kick which was taken by Sammy Harris who drove the ball into the middle of the box and a leaping Kimmy Ward, who was a defender that was moved up for the corner kick, headed the ball in for the winning goal and the Shoregals first District championship! Just an amazing victory for a huge underdog team which was given no chance of winning. However, the joy was muted by the knowledge that the girls would be told about the news of Gino within the next few minutes.
There will probably never be a game quite like this again which will end in a bittersweet moment where the elation of winning our first District championship is tempered by the death of a man who personally coached many of the girls on the field that day and would have been so proud of them in their victory, but never got the chance to tell them.
The Shoregals were coached this season by Caleb Reutter who was in the third year of a 4 yr. coaching stint in which he coached the girls to 40 victories and still their only District championship.
Coaches Contact Days:
Just a reminder that a series of four coaches contact days will be held this week on Mon. thru Thurs. It will be a combination of fitness training along with defensive and offensive skills training. The sessions will be held at Troy at 7:00 a.m. and will last to approx. 8:30 a.m.
New Varsity Assistant Coach Named:
We have some good news to report as we would like to announce a new assistant coach for the Varsity. His name is Todd Kauffman and he is a 2005 graduate of ALHS where he played Varsity soccer all 4 years for the boys team. His senior year he was named to the first team All_SWC along with being named numerous times to All County teams and All Greater Cleveland teams throughout his career. He also lettered in Cross Country and Track for 3 years and was an impressive all around athlete. After high school, he attended Ohio University where he graduated in 2010 with degrees in communication and video production. He is currently an employee with Avon Lake City Schools. Please join me in welcoming Todd to the girls program!
20th Anniversary of Shoregal Soccer:
This season we will celebrate 20 years of Shoregal soccer. That is a long time and we have had a lot of terrific girls pass through our program over the years who have set the bar high for future generations. Each week, we are going to highlight some of the important games and important people to the program over these last 20 years.
This week we will feature the 2006 District championship game:
It is hard to pick out one game as the greatest game in program history, but this game would probably fit that bill. Not only for the importance of the game, but for all the events and emotions that surrounded the game. There were many levels to this game and its effects were felt for years afterward.
The game was played on Saturday afternoon 10/28/06 against a powerful Magnificat team in which the Shoregals were a decided underdog. In fact, it was noticed that the Magnificat parents had a brought a "Congratulations District Champions" cake into the stadium before the game started - that's how sure they felt about this game. No one was picking Avon Lake to win this game as the Shoregals came into the playoffs with a very average record of 6-6-3 and had started the season 0-4. But during the playoffs, the Shoregals got hot and won their first three playoff games all by shutout to reach the District championship game.
The game was originally scheduled to be a home game for the Shoregals, but the night before the Shoremen football game was played in a driving rainstorm in old Memorial Stadium which featured a grass field. The football game rendered the field unplayable for the District game and it was moved to Rocky River which had an all weather turf field. This game ended up being used for years as one of the main justifications for installing the turf field that is in existence today in Memorial Stadium.
As for the game itself, the Shoregals and Magnificat battled to a 0-0 tie through 80 minutes of regulation time. Avon Lake really had the better scoring opportunities throughout the game as they had 5 solid chances where the Mags goalie was out of position, but failed to put it in the back of the net. Adding to the drama were adverse weather conditions. A typical fall day in northern Ohio where every season was represented. It was a cold day and was raining during many parts of the game. The rain at one point turned to sleet and frozen pellets mixed in with some snow. Then during the second half, the skies cleared and the sun actually came out, but by the end of the game the snow had come back. While the action was taking place on the field, there was also drama in the stands. Word had circulated through the stands that Gino Strippoli a long time coach, referee, and board member of the Avon Lake Soccer Organization had been rushed to the hospital with a heart attack while reffing a game in Lodi.
Back on the field, the girls has finished regulation time in a 0-0 tie which meant that two 5 minute overtime periods would be played with the team that scored first the winner. Through the first overtime period, neither team was able to score. Meanwhile, up in the stands the incredibly tragic news came that Gino had died from the heart attack. A very weird vibe swept through the stands as the sadness of hearing about Gino was mixed with the intense rooting for the girls to win this game. Then it happened - the Shoregals were awarded a corner kick which was taken by Sammy Harris who drove the ball into the middle of the box and a leaping Kimmy Ward, who was a defender that was moved up for the corner kick, headed the ball in for the winning goal and the Shoregals first District championship! Just an amazing victory for a huge underdog team which was given no chance of winning. However, the joy was muted by the knowledge that the girls would be told about the news of Gino within the next few minutes.
There will probably never be a game quite like this again which will end in a bittersweet moment where the elation of winning our first District championship is tempered by the death of a man who personally coached many of the girls on the field that day and would have been so proud of them in their victory, but never got the chance to tell them.
The Shoregals were coached this season by Caleb Reutter who was in the third year of a 4 yr. coaching stint in which he coached the girls to 40 victories and still their only District championship.
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