Young’s girls after good old success

By Sean Moylan, Sports Writer
   One of the great things about Northern Burlington head girls’ varsity soccer coach Larry Young is he’s a nice guy who is very honest and pulls no punches. He’ll tell you out front whether his team will be good or bad. This year, like the last few, the talent is there for NBC to have a very good soccer team and Young tells one so.
   "We have high expectations. We want to improve on our record from last year and go to states," said Young. "But our first goal is to win our conference."
   This past weekend the Greyhounds completed their annual trip to Washington Crossing where they work on their plays and techniques and bonded as a team. Like last year, it was a successful trip.
   "It was a good trip but it’s not a fun trip. It went well and was three days and two nights," added Young. "We tried to keep learning and getting better. We do training sessions. We do group activities and we do exercises to develop trust in one another."
   One exceptional NBC soccer player who will miss the season is sophomore star Julia Logan, who recently underwent successful ACL surgery.
   "Everything went well and there is no structural damage and Julia is doing well," added Young. Otherwise, the team is currently in good health and in tremendous physical condition.
   Kelly Walsh, a senior midfielder, is back and will be one of the team captains along with fellow seniors Shannon Pennock (midfielder) and Gia Barbero (goalkeeper). Young can’t say enough good things about Walsh as she can do a little bit of everything a field player is asked to do. Pennock will use her explosive speed to score and set up goals while Barbero has been a reliable keeper for years now.
   The Greyhounds other returning varsity players are as follows: Dana Higgins (a senior midfielder), Alaina Potts (a senior forward), Amanda Reed (a junior forward), Amy Loesser (a senior defender), Kasey Bush (a senior defender), Angela Barbero (a senior defender) and Sonya King (a sophomore defender/goalkeeper).
   Alyssa Semus (a junior midfielder), Morgan Pettit (a sophomore forward), Gianna Greco (a junior midfielder), Beth Ferrell (a senior forward), Gia Grupp (a junior defender), Dana Pennock (a freshman defender), Brianna Ferrell (a junior defender/midfielder), Alex Booth (a sophomore defender), Megan McDowall (a sophomore midfielder), Mara Bush (a sophomore defender) and Julia Labrum (a sophomore defender) are the newcomers to the team.
   Young will be assisted by Tiffany Rhea, Heidi Potts and Liz McGough.
   "We still have a few kids fighting for a two or three spots," said Young, whose teams are usually strong in the back and rotate a lot of "good" players in and out of the game. "We can go 16 or 17 deep this year."
   NBC is in a tough Liberty Division, but it’s a tough team.
   "We look to improve on last season’s record of 12-6 and be very competitive in all matches. Moorestown is the team to beat in the BCSL Liberty Division," said Young, who always tells it like it is.