Brueckner named Player of Year
ADAMS TWP — Individual and team success, Mani Brueckner's senior season offered it all.
The senior midfielder for the Mars girls soccer team helped the Planets capture the PIAA Class AA championship with a 1-0 victory over Villa Joseph Marie in Hershey Friday night.
Brueckner, one of four team captains, tallied 36 goals and 42 assists in 2011 and has been awarded the Butler Eagle Girls Soccer Player of the Year Award for the second straight season.
“I couldn't have asked to be on a better team, the girls have been great this season and my success is because of them,” said Brueckner. “My senior year has truly been special.”
“Mani is one of those kids who sets up as many goals as she scores,” said Planets coach Blair Gerlach. “She has such a fantastic cast around her that you can't triple team her. If you do, the players around her are going to hurt you.”
As a junior, Brueckner scored 27 goals and contributing 41 assists to a team that finished 24-1 and reached the state semifinals in 2010.
“With the kind of year she had as a junior, she knew she would be targeted this season,” said Gerlach. “I was impressed at how she was able to adapt to the way people were defending her.”
“Every game, she brings pure determination,” senior forward Kristen McKenzie said of Brueckner. “She always wants us to try our best. She's very motivating on the field.”
When she broke into Mars' starting lineup during her freshman year, scoring over 80 goals and chipping in over 90 assists was the furthest thing from Brueckner's mind. But that is what she achieved for the Planets since the fall of 2008.
“I would have laughed and said, ‘Who are you kidding?'” she said. “I'm surprised at what I've been able to do, but I'll take it. I've worked hard for everything.
“When I think about it, it's nice to know that I've contributed all I have to the team,” she added. “It feels good.”
Brueckner, who also plays for Northern Steel outside of the high school team, has given a verbal commitment to take her game to Gannon University.
“It's a small school and it's close to home,” Brueckner said of her college choice. “By the time I graduate, I just want to be able to say I made the right decision academically and athletically.”
Brueckner will leave big shoes to fill, but Gerlach knows the effort she exuded has a way of spreading to players who remain.
“When you show dedication to a sport, it sets a great example for others,” he said.
