New additions
ADAMS TWP — The Allegheny College women's soccer program may have figured its most recent recruiting class was complete.
But there was just enough time for two standouts from Mars High School to jump on board.
Isabel Wroblewski and Amber Lisman recently chose to continue their academic and athletic careers at the school, located in Meadville.
A midfielder and defender, respectively, both players were three-year starters for the Planets, helping the team compile a 48-11-2 record in that span. The Planets won a WPIAL Class AA title during the duo's junior year before being bumped up to Class AAA last season, during which both served as team captains.
“We knew it was going to be hard, moving up a class,” said Lisman, “but the team remained close. I'm hoping we can be part of a team in college as close as we were in high school.”
Mars coach Blair Gerlach believes Wroblewski and Lisman's talents will translate well to the Division III collegiate level.
“Allegheny just struck gold with these two girls,” he said. “It's a great school that matches up with their academic goals.”
Wroblewski was planning on focusing solely on academics at West Virginia University.
“I realized it wasn't where I wanted to go,” she said. “It was in mid-April that I first thought about playing soccer in college and I looked at Allegheny. Then I found out that Amber is going there, too. I've played with her the last five or six years. Right off the bat, to know there will be a familiar face there, it's definitely going to help me.”
Since moving into a starting role for Mars, Wroblewski has seen her game evolve.
“I used to be pretty nervous when the ball was at my feet,” she said, “but through all the playing time I got, I became a lot more confident with it.
“It's difficult for a freshman to get a lot of playing time in college, but I just want to be competitive and improve my game.”“She was the engine for us,” Gerlach said of Wroblewski, who plans to major in chemistry. “She threw her body into every tackle she could.”Lisman had narrowed her college choice down to Washington & Jefferson College and Allegheny.“I visited Allegheny my junior year and again at the end of April,” she said. “I fell in love with the campus. It's beautiful.”Lisman has been a defender since her days playing youth soccer. It's a role she has embraced.“As long as the team did well, I was happy,” she said. “I like stopping the big shot as opposed to taking it.”According to Gerlach, Lisman did that quite often during her varsity career.“She was the player we looked for to match up against the other team's best forward,” he said. “She's good in the air and was our organizational leader back there.”Lisman plans to begin college as a bio-chemistry major.Allegheny College competes in the North Coast Athletic Conference. The Gators finished 6-10-1 overall last season and will be under the direction of first-year head coach Pam Monnier this fall.
