North Shore talented and confident

Starting the year 6-1, the North Shore Lady Vikings soccer team optimistically looks forward to and mentally levels itself for its next portion of the season.

Now in her 6th year coaching at North Shore High School, varsity coach Lauren Gotta is convinced that she has collected her most established team yet.

“This year may well be the best team I’ve had yet,” Gotta said. “When I first came here, we had some very good and skilled players, but not really a fully great team top to bottom; that is what we have now.”

Gotta takes pride in her team’s dynamic depth.

“We have a great freshmen class that are playing big roles for us just a year after watching the team as 8th graders,” Gotta said.

One such player is Giuliana Graziosi, the freshman starting goalkeeper who was invited to keep a close eye on the level of play on the varsity scene last year as an eight grader. “We asked if she would like to come and sit in with the team and learn,” Gotta said. “She works with a goalie trainer now, and with the athletic advice of her father along with my coaching of her, she is really doing well.”

Freshmen Maddy Berry and Isabella Tedesco are two more key players in Gotta’s rotation. “Maddy is a really, really good young player, and Isabella Tedesco is also a very good outside midfielder,” Gotta said of her probable future four-year varsity players.

Ryleigh Gilligan, a talented sophomore, has provided three assists in her six games played thus far in 2017.

Although North Shore has a slew of ninth and tenth grade talent to look to for years to come, there is no mistake that the upperclassmen are still the rock of this year’s team.

Senior captain Selena Fortich makes her presence known on the pitch with each and every appearance, amassing 6 points (5 assists, 1 goal) in 7 games played this year.

“She is a very vocal leader on this team and just a leader all around,” Gotta said. “When she works, she gives it 110% every single time and it pays off. You can tell she’s respected everywhere, including on the field by both her teammates and her opponents.”

Junior Taylor Berry was also lauded by Gotta for her toughness and tenacity on the pitch. “She is tough as nails, and she’s the kind of player that will run through you,” Gotta said.

Gotta, although proud and optimistic, was slightly  measured when discussing how she wants to approach the rest of the season.

“Although I think we are the team to beat, I think any team on any given day can come out and give us a tough game. I want us to still be focused on effort in scenarios such as 50/50 balls a month from now, and I think with hard work and focus we can do that,” Gotta said. “If we keep ourselves in a good headspace, we’ll be a very good team going into the postseason, and hey, the postseason is where it’s at.”