From goalkeeper to goal scorer
GREENSBURG — Emily LoPresti shows little emotion when she scores a goal.
“My teammates make fun of me for it,” said LoPresti, a Karns City graduate and junior forward on the Seton Hill University women's soccer team. “Even my parents wonder why I don't celebrate. I just don't want to make it a big deal. I mean, it's my job to score goals. That's what I'm supposed to do.”
But the usually mild-mannered LoPresti broke with that tradition Saturday when she scored on a bending shot from 25 yards out against nemesis and No. 9-ranked West Chester in the 13th minute.
LoPresti celebrated. Hard.
“I went crazy,” she said. “West Chester is the No. 9 team in the country (in NCAA Division II) and we've never scored against them since I've been here.”
The defense held up the rest of the match and LoPresti had another game-winner to add to her already lengthy resume for the Griffins.
She had four game-winners last season and finished the year with a team-leading nine goals and 19 points.
LoPresti also led Seton Hill with nine goals and 22 points her freshman season.
She's off to a good start in 2017 with two goals in two games and five points.
Not bad for a former goalkeeper when she was younger.
LoPresti started out her soccer career in front of the net on U-9 and U-11 youth teams.
She found out quickly that she enjoyed scoring goals much more than stopping them.
“Being a goalie is too much pressure,” she said.
LoPresti has handled the pressure of the college game well.
At Karns City, she scored more than 100 career goals, but wondered if her offense would translate to the Division II level.
LoPresti had to adjust her style — she could no longer just run by people and punch the ball into the net. She had to be precise with her shots and physically stronger.
“You have to be strong for sure,” LoPresti said. “The physicality is so much different. It's crazy. All the defenders in the (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) are tall and big and strong. It was a lot of hard work.”
So was honing her shooting touch.
LoPresti has spent the last two summers working on that shot, becoming more accurate and more deadly from inside the 18 and out.
“I've done a bunch of shooting drills,” she said. “Just reps and reps and reps, trying to hit certain spots.”
The results so far have been striking.
“Even my cup coach noticed how much stronger my shot was,” LoPresti said. “Definitely the thing I've most improved is my shot. I'm more accurate and I'm hitting it hard and farther out.”
Perhaps that is why she unleashed such an uncharacteristic jubilant reaction when she scored Saturday.
“I was on the left side and just hit it over her,” LoPresti said. “I think I was so happy because that was something I worked on so much.”
