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Tuesday, October 4, 2022 | 11:01 AM
Bill Beckner Jr. | Tribune-Review
Yough girls soccer players prepare to play Southmoreland on Monday, Oct. 3 in Hermione.
Bill Beckner Jr. | Tribune-Review
Youth girls soccer players stand for the national anthem before a game against Southmoreland on Monday, Oct. 3 at Cougar Mountain Stadium.
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With substitutions in short supply, Yough tries to conserve and persevere.
Every game, with a defensive-minded approach and their fingers crossed, the Cougars make do with what they have.
Right now, that’s 12 players. Eleven starters and one reserve.
A microcosm of their situation: In an impressive, 1-0 overtime win over Penn-Trafford that left many around the WPIAL asking, “How’d they do that?” freshman goalkeeper Carly Fitzgibbons received a yellow card and had to leave the game for five minutes.
With no true backup for Fitzgibbons, emergency goalie Hannah Wright, a senior defender, took over in net.
“I went in and stopped some shots,” Wright said. “I don’t know if they were saved, but I stopped some shots. We’re just trying to keep up our energy as the season goes on. We’re trying to work together more.”
Penn-Trafford had a heart when it played Yough. The Warriors agreed to play four, 20-minute “quarters” instead of two 40-minute halves, allowing Yough (5-4-1) to catch his collective breath — while his coach still held his breath.
“I have never seen them come together like that, against such a quality team,” Yough coach Mike Veycheck said of his girls. “We knew we needed to get lucky. PT played really well. But we only had 12 girls and just played with 12 the night before against Ligonier Valley. We played 94 minutes with Penn-Trafford.”
Yough started the season with 14 girls, but freshman defender Haley Omasta went down with a knee injury, and junior defender Carli Reisinger is set to have surgery on her knee.
That has left Yough with its untiring 12.
Still, the Cougars have produced six shutouts and have only allowed 13 goals. They are firmly on the doorstep of a WPIAL playoff berth.
“We would love to score more goals,” Veychek said. “Trust me, every girl would like to score more. But our situation has us playing a more defensive game. Based on what we have, we can’t do both.
“I like our morale; It is trending upward.”
While some teams play to their strengths, Yough is often forced to hide its weaknesses.
“We’re not going to dump the ball into the corner and chase it,” he said. “We’re going to get tired and run out of players. It’s nothing conventional we’re doing, but it’s what we have to do.”
Senior Nicky Veychek said the defense-first style is what works best for a team that has the potential to break out and score — given the right opportunity.
Robert Morris commit McKenzie Pritts, Kendalyn Umbel and Nicky Veychek make up one of the most talented scoring trios in the WPIAL.
“Playing a lot and not stopping (without a bench) is tough,” Nicky Veycheck said. “We drink a lot of water to avoid cramps. We’re playing a lot more defense than we’d like to. We push everyone up in the last five minutes to try to score.”
Practices are also handled with kid gloves. Preparation is more about creating stress for opponents.
“We work on non-contact foot skills,” coach Veychek said. “We want to get in front of the players’ passing lane and disrupt what they want to do.”
Opposing coaches are empathetic towards the Cougars’ plight but also impressed with how they have handled it.
“When you dip below 18 (players) it starts to get tricky,” Southmoreland coach Josh Pajak said. “Credit them for what they are doing. You also have to keep the players’ spirits up. I know I wouldn’t want to play them (in the playoffs).”
Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review Staff Writer. You can contact Bill by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
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