Germantown Academy's soccer team captains are (from left) Rachael Villari, Nicole Marion and Mackenzie Pluck. (Photo by Tom Utescher) by Tom Utescher After winning the Pennsylvania Independent Schools soccer championship in 2015, the girls of Germantown Academy did not fare quite as well last fall. Although seven players graduated off of the 2016 roster, the Patriots have enough returning individual talent to be considered contenders for the PAIS and Inter-Ac League titles. A senior who has participated in the junior national team program, Mackenzie Pluck, will sign with Duke University, …
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Germantown Academy's soccer team captains are (from left) Rachael Villari, Nicole Marion and Mackenzie Pluck. (Photo by Tom Utescher)by Tom Utescher
After winning the Pennsylvania Independent Schools soccer championship in 2015, the girls of Germantown Academy did not fare quite as well last fall. Although seven players graduated off of the 2016 roster, the Patriots have enough returning individual talent to be considered contenders for the PAIS and Inter-Ac League titles.
A senior who has participated in the junior national team program, Mackenzie Pluck, will sign with Duke University, following through on a commitment she made several years ago. She is one of the GA team captains this season, along with classmates Nicole Marion and Rachael Villari.
The other seniors are Bailey Gilmore, Annie Peterson and J.T. Sarisky. Peterson, who scored the winning goal for the Pats in the 2015 PAIS championship match, expects to announce her college choice shortly.
Two of this year's Germantown Academy juniors have already made verbal commitments, Ally Clark to Columbia University and Katie Hackley to the University of Delaware. Sidelined due to injury for the 2016 season (when she served as a team manager) Hackley is now back out on the field. Riley Axenroth and Julia Johnson round out a comparatively small group of juniors.
The 10th-grade soccer class, on the other hand, is a large one, starting with returning varsity goalies Lily Altomare and Meaghan Toscano. The other sophomores are Norwood Fontbonne Academy grad Maddie Burns, Sasha Capers, Sarah DiLello (St. Philip Neri), Grace Kaupas, Eleni Kytzidis, Grace McGettigan and Elizabeth Van Blarcom. The Patriots will be lacking the services of another talented sophomore, though; Kiley Kergides suffered an ACL injury back in the spring.
Back together for their seventh season overseeing the GA team are head coach Chris Nelson and assistants Kellianne Kaput and Katie Martin. Returning for her second season with the staff is Kergides' older sister Kacie, a former Patriot star ('10) who went on to play at Princeton.
Germantown will definitely be able to send a number of talented athletes out onto the field this fall; it remains to be seen exactly how well these quality components can be made to function as a unit.
