LeBlanc proves he’s le best

HHS grad guides West Virginia to season record for wins

By: Sean Moylan
   Coming into his first season as the head coach of the West Virginia University Men’s Soccer team, Hightstown’s own Marlon LeBlanc exuded a quiet confidence usually reserved for most knowledgeable and well-prepared of coaches.
   Well, this year LeBlanc turned out to be all of those things and so much more. Under LeBlanc, West Virginia set a school record for most wins (15) in a season and went undefeated in the Big East for the first time ever with a 9-0-1 conference record.
   Before the season even Started, LeBlanc evaluated his talent and set winning the Big East as one of his team’s goals.
   "Winning the conference is what we expect as coaches," said LeBlanc, whose club posted a 15-3-3 record, including the playoffs. "I don’t think I’d ever say we wouldn’t like to win the conference championship."
   Actually, there are coaches out there who set the bar low and never shoot for the moon, but LeBlanc is not one of them.
   An All-Star soccer player for the Hightstown Rams and Penn State, LeBlanc spent a few years working as an assistant under Penn State’s immortal soccer coach Barry Gorman. It was there at Penn State where LeBlanc learned all aspects of the game of soccer and became a master recruiter. And while LeBlanc became West Virginia’s head coach too late in the game to actually recruit any players this year, he took the existing talent and molded it into the best team in the Big East.
   The Mountaineers multi-talented goalie senior Nick Noble had a career year under LeBlanc and consequently he won the award for Big East Goalie of the Year. Meanwhile, LeBlanc and his coaching staff (Bryan Green and Keith Wiggans) were chosen as the Big East Coaching Staff of the Year.
   Ranked as high as 2nd, West Virginia finished the season ranked 4th in the Nation. Seeded 6th, the Mountaineers received a first-round bye in the NCAA Tournament, but later lost a tough game to UNC-Greensboro.
   "Obviously, there are a lot more sleepless nights when you’re a head coach," said LeBlanc, who is still trying to shake the playoff loss. "But I think it was a great year. For most of the year we were ranked in the Top 20 (of the Nation). And we only gave up 13 or 14 goals the entire season. We were the first team since ’93 to go undefeated in the Big East. Nobody expected us to be as successful as we were. It’s the best season in the school’s history."
   Unfortunately, LeBlanc will need to find a replacement for Noble and two other starters who are graduating this year. Otherwise, the team is fairly young and should do well again next year. Of course, he’ll aid his assistants in any way possible during the recruiting process.
   "I’m turning over every stone looking for that next great player," said LeBlanc, who is a players’ coach.
   This past summer LeBlanc said that his team would attack and apply pressure at the offensive end and it did. LeBlanc has a habit of doing the things he says. West Virginia was a very good soccer program when LeBlanc took over, but now it’s a great one.
   "It’s nice to be considered (one of Hightstown’s big success stories). There’s some great people who have come out of Hightstown," said LeBlanc, who is right up there with any of them.