Girls Soccer Preview:
Lady Cougars Prepare for New Season

Tuesday, September 1, 1998

By Forrest Robleto
SJSports Staff Writer

This is where it all begins. The practice week! It involves the excitement of a new beginning. Ironing out the wrinkles in your game plan, meeting your new coach or just getting ready to continue where your team left off last season with that winning attitude. "The majority of the starters are juniors," Cherry Hill East coach Lee Troutman mentioned. "I think everybody was rather surprised by us last year. No one bothered to pay attention to [the team] we had or [the players] we had until it was too late." Coach Lee Troutman sees an interesting season ahead for a strong team in the Olympic American division.

With possibly six starting seniors and some very strong juniors, coach Troutman has confidence that this young team which surprised some teams last year should have an interesting season. "I'm sure everyone is aware of how we finished out the last year and who [our] players are through the newspaper." Cherry Hill East is returning with stopper Julia Girman (Sr), middle fielder Richa Berma (Sr), sweeper Jen Padlo (Jr) and middle fielder Meradith Soble (Jr). Troutman has some real strong underclassmen that could make real strong showing for an actual varsity position. Cravitz surprised a lot of teams by scoring game winning goals in the last four games of the season.

Troutman knows how important it is to prepare his team, physically and mentally for the upcoming 1998 season. Each player was put through a strenuous workout and instructed on the basics of the game. So with the expectations of this soccer team, it will be interesting to see how far this team will go.

Photos by Forrest Robleto