A bountiful bond
GROVE CITY — Sarah Cessar and Richie Kocur were born one day apart.
They grew up on opposite ends of Butler County — Cessar in Slippery Rock and Kocur in Cranberry Township — but the cousins shared a bond throughout their youth that has spilled over into college.
“We were really close growing up,” Cessar said. “I'm a day older. He's my little cousin.”
“She always brings that up,” Kocur adds, smiling.
Now, they are both sophomores at Grove City College and are both members of the men's and women's soccer teams at the school.
And both are off to good starts in their careers.
Cessar only played 10 games last year as a freshman because of injuries.
Healthy this season, Cessar is second on the team with four goals and earlier in the season earned a Presidents' Athletic Conference Player of the Week award.
Cessar also was a part of the program's 200th win — a 9-1 victory over Chatham College Tuesday.
She had a goal in that game.
“That was pretty neat,” Cessar said. “At the end of the game, coach (Melissa) Lamie brought in a woman who had played on the very first team (Ann Richards-Thomas) to speak to us.
“Her last statement stuck with us,” Cessar added. “‘What are you doing now that girls in 20 years are going to appreciate?' She shared how she got the program started, how excited she was when she got the letter that said that women's soccer was going to be a varsity sport. Now we get to play soccer because she did all that for us.”
Cessar is just happy to be healthy enough to play soccer.It's an unusual feeling for Cessar not to feel anything when she is running on the field.Injuries dogged her throughout her high school career in both basketball and soccer. Still, she led Slippery Rock High in goals scored as a senior.“I feel great — It's about time,” Cessar said. “I can go as hard as I want and not hold back.”Cessar and Kocur talk frequently and recalled the family outings each week at a campground near Mercer while growing up as the reason why they are so close to this day.Both come from large families — each have four siblings.Kocur committed to Grove City College early. Cessar needed more time to mull her options before choosing GCC.“Richie was the first one I called,” Cessar said.The two came from very different high schools.Slippery Rock is small in comparison to Seneca Valley where Kocur attended.“She knew everyone at her school,” Kocur said. “There were people I graduated with who I didn't know.”The style of soccer also was different, but Kocur excelled with the Raiders and has scored two goals to go with three assists for Grove City College this fall.Both the men's and women's teams at the school are in the thick of the PAC race.“It was harder to stand out at Seneca Valley,” Kocur said. “The competition for spots on the team was very high. I know coach (George) Williams didn't really have to recruit players to come out for the team. It's just the difference here where (Grove City men's soccer coach Mike) Dreves has to go out and select players.”Kocur feel comfortable in his role with the Wolverines.“Personally, my goal is to keep my standards high, to keep playing up to my ability every game, but also making everyone around me better,” Kocur said.
