New SCH girls head soccer coach Maria DeGeorge Kosmin is pictured with her brother and assistant coach, Tom DeGeorge. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

The girls' soccer team at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy has had a significant makeover, as was apparent in the Blue Devils' first official practices last week.

The new head coach is Maria DeGeorge Kosmin, who came out of the strong high school program at Archbishop Ryan and went on to star at Arcadia University ('06). Throughout her four-year career there, she was not only a starter, but also a First Team all-star in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference. She set records for single-season points and assists, and was recently inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame.

The mother of two has been an assistant coach with her former college team for the past five seasons. Now her assistant at SCH will be her brother, Tom DeGeorge, who also earned Hall of Fame status as a star at Arcadia. They are both club coaches with the PA Rush organization.

The team they're taking over at Springside Chestnut Hill only graduated two seniors from the 2015 roster, but one of them was the school's all-time leading scorer. Meghan McCool, a member of the U.S. Under-20 Team, is now playing for NCAA powerhouse University of Virginia, where she scored a goal in her very first collegiate contest on August 19.

Fortunately for the Blue Devils, they have two larger classes of seniors and juniors bringing their experience to the pitch this fall. The seniors are Audrey Brown, Jazmin Conteras, Taylor Ferry, Martha Kerbel, Alex McHugh, and Joy Wilson.

Early on in the first week of practice, it was uncertain whether their classmate Destini Curry will be returning to the team as the starting goalkeeper. If not, SCH will be scrambling to fill the cage in a hurry, although current sophomores Sena Houessou-Adin and Mo'ne Davis each have seen a little varsity action as goalies.

Anchoring the offensive and defensive ends of the field, respectively, are two juniors who have already made verbal college commitments, Emily McNesby (Tennessee) and Grace Rorke (Dartmouth). One of their talented classmates, marking specialist Marissa Brown, will be out this season due to an ACL injury.

The other juniors on the roster are Bridget Hennessy, Aliyah Jefferies, and Lucy Lamb, and in addition to the two goalie prospects (who both have played field positions, as well), the sophomore class includes Nayah Moore and Kylie Quinn.

Two juniors have younger sisters who are members of the freshman class; Abbie Rorke is moving up from the eighth grade at SCH, while Meghan McNesby is a new student at the school. Among the other ninth-graders are newcomers Alysa Akins, Madison Niebish, and Rebecca Arnold, along with Dakota Carter, who was already an SCH student.

A number of the girls played together in a summer league in Lower Moreland, and Coach DeGeorge Kosmin is employing her club connections to get talented girls in youth programs interested in Springside Chestnut Hill. She noted that there are already some very promising soccer players in the middle school who will be coming online for varsity action over the next few years.