2017-18 Girl's’ Varsity Soccer Preview

Comments from Head Coach Amber Clevenger

This year we have a lot of new faces–we have a lot of girls that are willing to step up and step into any position necessary for the team to be successful.
–Head Coach Amber Clevenger
Athletes To Watch:

• Senior Captain Mary Bannon is such a talented athlete and fun to watch on the field! Bannon’s leadership and ability are what make Bannon highly respected on our team, the girls really rally around Bannon and they even have a saying “in Bannon we trust.” Bannon will be a major asset for us this season defensively as well as offensively during set pieces.

• Junior Kate Burns has continuously brought a hard work ethic, a willingness to go above and beyond and of course, soccer talent! Burns is a staple on this team; she has been such a consistent player during her time with the girls’ soccer program. Burns led the team in assists last year and scored some crucial goals to help us during SPC play.

• Sophomore Meghan Cloninger has improved exponentionally since last season! Meghan is a very versatile player who will be able to play many roles this season. The main thing enjoy about Meghan is the energy that she brings to practice–she is the true definition of “practice the way you play.” I look forward to great things from her this season.

• Freshman Sabrina Frusco is a force to be reckoned with! I am extremely excited about my freshman class and especially Sabrina–she brings a very high level of play, and above everything else, she also brings speed and will be difficult to stop! We will be looking to Sabrina to lead the team in scoring this year so she has a very important role.

Key Match-Ups:
This year is going to be very interesting in the girls’ soccer community with the new addition of Club Developmental Academy which will possibly take away some top players–this year’s SPC championship could be anyone’s for the taking!

I believe that it’s important that we take it one game at a time and during that time it’s important that we focus on that specific opponent.

• Kinkaid is a big rivalry for Cooper. There were also a powerhouse in the South Zone last year so this will be a major game for us.
• St. John’s is also a big game–they always have an athletic and talented team so a win against St. John’s would be great for us!
• January 30th is our Senior Night against HCYA and that is an important game to support our seniors and honor the time they’ve put into our program.
 
Season Goals & Challenges:
Success isn’t always about the wins and losses. As a coach, my biggest goal each season is for my players to leave each season better than they started; not only in our soccer skills, but also as growing young adults. It is so important to me that when these young women leave my program, they have learned things that will have made them better as a whole.
Staying healthy is a challenge for any team. I have great assistant coaches in Meredith Brown and Paige Peterson who put a lot of time and effort into the overall strength of our team. It is crucial to keep the team healthy, and it is always a hope that we can stay injury free. I can only hope that at the end of this year I can look back on this season and feel proud of the energy that we put into the soccer program, and that our seniors leave a legacy of honor and pride for this program!

2016 – 17 Girls’ Varsity Soccer Accomplishments:
SPC: 5th place
SPC South Zone: 4th place
Season Record: 11-7-1
SPC Record: 3-3
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From Curiosity to Wisdom
The John Cooper School is an independent, non-sectarian, co-educational, college preparatory day school. Our mission is to provide a challenging education in a caring environment to a diverse group of select students, enabling them to become critical and creative thinkers, effective communicators, responsible citizens and leaders, and lifelong learners.

The John Cooper School seeks to attract qualified individuals of diverse backgrounds to its faculty, staff, and student body. The School does not discriminate against any individual in admissions, educational programs, personnel policies, general practices, or employment, on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, physical disability, or age.