Bishop

GROVE CITY Sarah Cessar always has fought on two fronts: the opponent in front of her and her ailing back.

For years, Cessar struggled with chronic back pain. Finally this fall, that troublesome opponent was vanquished.

Now Cessar, a Slippery Rock High graduate and a freshman on the Grove City College women's soccer team, is focused completely on her foes.

“Sarah is just now showing what she can do,” said Grove City College soccer coach Melissa Lamie of Cessar, who scored two goals Wednesday in a 5-1 win over Misericordia University in the first round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament.

This summer, Cessar's back problems finally were diagnosed: one of her vertebrae was chipped.

The recovery time was long, forcing her to miss more than half of the season.

“As soon as I got cleared, I was out on the field trying my hardest to get back in the groove, to get my touch back,” said Cessar, who also plans to play basketball for the Wolverines this winter. “I worked this summer a lot and then at the beginning of the preseason (the back problems) happened again. It was a downer.”

That downer didn't last long. Finally healthy, Cessar is one of several freshmen who have helped Grove City (12-7-1) make a late-season run that has included a berth in the ECAC tournament.

Shannon Bishop of Grove City High and Sam Weber of Freeport also have contributed greatly as freshmen.

“This is probably the strongest freshman class we have ever had,” Lamie said. “We have never had this strong of a showing from the local schools.”

All three have come off the bench to contribute a role they never had to fill as stars of their high school and club teams.But at Grove City College, egos are checked at the door.“Everyone is so close,” said Bishop, who has scored five goals in 17 games this season. “There's no drama. Everyone is really encouraging. It's really nice having that coming in as a freshman not having the cutthroat competition for spots.”Weber played only one season at Freeport, but she saw extensively action on traveling club teams.She said she was surprised by the atmosphere at Grove City College when she arrived this summer.“Come to one of our games the whole sideline is standing up the entire time cheering,” said Weber, who has scored four goals in 13 games this season. “No matter what, you are contributing.“This program is incredible,” Weber added. “I've never enjoyed soccer as much as I do now with this particular team.”

Lamie has built a consistent winner in her 18 years as coach.The Wolverines have had only four losing seasons under Lamie, who also was the women's basketball coach at the school from 1992 to 2006.Grove City will play Marywood University in the ECAC semifinals Saturday.“I'm most excited because we got the chance,” said Lamie, whose team lost in a shootout to Washington & Jefferson in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament and wondered whether they would receive an ECAC bid. “The team really likes playing together. They don't want this to end.”

Cessar

Weber