Successful Trip
BUTLER TWP — Any trip to Florida during the winter can be considered a vacation.
But the Northern Steel Storm Under-15 girls soccer team took care of business.
The squad, guided by Northern Steel Director of Coaching Blair Gerlach, won the Gold Division of the Disney Presidents Day Soccer Festival at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando.
“This is a group of girls that likes to go somewhere in the off-season as a team and compete,” Gerlach said. “The players and parents are very committed that way and we like to accommodate them.
“Last year, we went to Dallas (Texas) and finished 2-1-1. Next year, we may go to Las Vegas.”
This year, it was Orlando and the Storm finished 3-0-1 against national competition. It started out with a 7-0 shutout of a team from Minnesota. Then came a 3-3 tie with Savannah, Ga.
After a 2-1 win over southern Ohio, the Storm had a rematch with Savannah and claimed a 2-0 victory.
“The girls played well down there,” Gerlach said. “Youth soccer eligibility changed its rules to birth year this year rather than school grade. So this group is actually a mixture of eighth and ninth-graders.”
Members of the Storm include Emily Fleeger, Maggie Hays, Maci Lineman, Paige Miller, McKenna Robinson and Gabby Boden of Butler, Shannon O’Shea, Norah Seibel, Morgam Sinan and Lizzy White of Seneca Valley, Caroline Wroblewski of Mars, Kayla Daugherty of Slippery Rock, Callie Davis of Hampton, Riley Miara of North Allegheny, Danica Johnson of Burrell, Gretchen Oslick of Ambridge, Lacey Bernick and Kennedy Soliday of Norwin.
Carla Murtha of Hickory is also on the squad, but was unable to make the trip to Florida.
