Groton girls soccer off to strong start under new coach

After missing out on the playoffs last season, the Groton girls soccer team aimed to kick off the 2022 campaign on a high note to return to the promised land. The team has achieved just that, winning their opening three games with a familiar face now at the helm.

Jocelyn Lathers is the new head coach of the varsity team after spending the past four years coaching the modified team at Groton. She replaces Lauren Welch, who coached the Indians for the previous two seasons.

Lathers worked closely with former varsity head coach Dick Brecht during the tail end of his time with the Indians. Under Brecht’s leadership, Groton was a force to be reckoned with in central New York, winning three straight IAC Small School Championships from 2016 to 2018. Even after his retirement after the 2019 season, Brecht has played a big part in making Lathers’ transition to varsity seamless.

“I learned a lot of different strategies and drills and things from him, which I instilled, with the modified girls that I’ve now brought up with me to varsity,” Lathers said. “He’s also helped me work on formations. We were playing a different formation now than when I was coaching modified, and [I’ve been] hearing his feedback. I’ve talked to him about certain teams and ways that maybe we should form or strategies we should have when we play certain teams. So, that’s been very helpful.”

The transition has been a success so far, as Groton began the 2022 season with three straight wins over Newfield, Union Springs/Port Byron and DeRuyter and a loss to the much larger school Christian Brothers Academy from Section III. Lathers credits the relationship between the older and newer players for the Indians getting off on the right foot.

“My upperclassmen have done a fantastic job of meeting my freshmen that are coming up,” Lather said. “They’ve shown them the ropes, and I love watching the mentorship that’s happening, especially when they’re out on the field. The older girls really do a lot of talking to the younger girls, telling them where they need to be. I’m blessed to have my ninth graders who are willing to listen and take that to heart and really apply it, so I’ve got to commend my upperclassmen, especially my seniors.”

Groton has been a threat both in equal parts attack and defense. Offensively, the Indians are led by senior midfielder Natalia Bell with three goals, two of which came in the opening win against Newfield. Alexa Miller and Sharla Lockwood have each chipped in with a goal apiece.

Having multiple scoring options will only help the team’s morale going forward, particularly for the younger members.

“[In] the first game that we played, a lot of the girls were playing a little bit more timid and not sure of what they could do,” Lather said. “By having multiple goalscorers, those girls can really look up to them and realize, ‘I can do that too. I’ve got the same possibility,’ rather than always wanting to get the ball to one player. I think that’ll help build their confidence, and it just feels good for me to know that we’ve got that power behind them.”

Defensively, Groton has been rock solid, recording two shutouts from a possible four games. Senior goalkeeper Elisa Allen has played a massive part in keeping those clean sheets, including a 14-save performance against DeRuyter. Allen was the only member of the Indians to make last season’s IAC Small North Division All-Star First Team, and she’s on track to add another accolade to her name.

“She is just a stud; she really is,” Lathers said. “She’s an all-around athlete, not just in soccer. I don’t really ever have to worry about my back line. They know each other very well. When one has to move over or pinch up, the other ones fall right in line. And a lot of that is because of Elisa Allen. She’s talking to them constantly back there in the hole, and she commands that field very well.”

Whether or not Groton makes it back to the postseason, Lathers has other goals that she hopes to achieve in her first season with varsity.

“I just want every single girl when they leave the field to feel like it was a successful season, regardless of wins or losses,” Lathers said. “I want to see growth in all my girls. I told them at the beginning of the season that I don’t plan on going anywhere and that I want to see a strong Groton soccer program. It’s important to me both from the top-down, varsity to modified. I just want there to be a passion for the sport, and if I can instill that in the girls, I think that’s a successful season.”

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