Cougars looking to fill the net and key positions

Tom Cameron is heading into his fourth season as the Cougars head coach.

The Charleroi girls soccer team will have an entirely new look this season after the graduation of six key contributors over the last four years.

No more Bella Carroto, McKenna DeUnger, Taylor Ramsdell, Cam Musser, Ella Sypolt and Addison Conrad wearing red and black, so now it’s time for a new era of girls to shine.

“This is their year and they have to rise to the occasion. Those girls had a great run, but that’s what happens in high school sports,” Cougars head coach Tom Cameron said. “The first thing they need to understand is that they don’t have to go out and replace anyone. They need to be themselves and do what they are capable of doing. If they score 30 goals, that’s great. If they score 10 goals, that’s great too.”

Cameron noted that the graduation losses come at some of the most important positions on the field.

“Patience is going to be key, especially in my case,” Cameron said with a laugh. “I knew that would be the case when I decided to come back this year. It’s been a lot more teaching, a lot more fundamentals like trapping, what it means to play with three back, working through the drills a little slower and teaching what a diamond is, triangle and even heading the ball.”

Cameron said replacing the 201 career goals by Carroto (101) and DeUnger (100) isn’t going to happen any time soon, but players like seniors Rhianna Grogan, Mylie French and junior Lilly Withers are going to have to put the ball in the back of the net. The three combined for only nine goals last season with Grogan netting seven.

“The goals are going to have to come from those three,” Cameron said. We’re not going to change what we do or the way we play. They’re not going to be 30or 40-goal scorers, but if they can get 10-15 goals a piece we can be right where we want to be.”

Aryana Chiplaskey, an All-WPIAL performer last season as a freshman will anchor the defense along with Fernanda Andrade, Hannah Anthony and Anna Kondratowicz.

The other big spot that will need filled will be in goal.

“She may be the hardest to replace. Addison Conrad was tempermental but she was a hell of a ballplayer out there. She made the routine saves and she made the difficult ones,” Cameron said.

As of now, Cameron said the job is up in the air but junior Lita Zelinsky and freshman Breslin Trubiani are battling it out for the spot.

“You look at our roster and think that with five seniors and five juniors, we have some nice experience returning,” Cameron said. “That’s not the case. We have upperclassmen, but we’re still short on experience when it comes to the in-game aspect. There’s definitely going to be a learning curve.”

Charleroi has moved up to Class 2A and is now the coop home for Monessen.

“I think that’s really been the biggest disappointment,” Cameron said. “We’re in this agreement with them, but all we got was two girls. It would have been nice to get four, five, six more girls to boost the numbers up. But it is what it is.”

Also on the Cougars’ roster – which has 15 players as of now – are juniors Jaci Lipari (defender) and Julia Katawaroo (midfielder), sophomore Kayleigh French and freshmen London Powell and Louanne Ducoli.

The Cougars will have new section rivalries in Section 1-2A with Belle Vernon and Ringgold. They’ll also play home-and-home series with Keystone Oaks, McGuffey, South Park and Steel Valley.

“There’s no doubt that South Park is the cream of the crop. They have tons of kids out every year,” Cameron said. “Belle Vernon has a few nice players and Ed (Rosensteel) is really putting his fingerprints on a good young group in Ringgold’s program. It’s going to be great to play against them because all the kids know each other in this area. It’s going to be nice to have those rivalry games again.”

When it comes down to it, Cameron is hoping the girls on the current roster model themselves with the 2023 class.

“It’s a process. We saw great growth over their three years with us here and turned into a 15-2 team last season,” Cameron said. “I know these girls are going to come out and they’re going to play hard. Our goal is always to get into the playoffs. These girls are going to go out there and give it hell. They have a great attitude. There’s not much more I can ask from them than that. There’s a lot for them to learn and we’ll build it throughout the season.”