CRANBERRY TWP — Brittni Grenninger built a winner at Freeport. She aided a winner at Karns City.

Now she's taking over a winner at North Catholic.

Grenninger, 32, a 2006 Karns City graduate, was recently named varsity girls soccer coach at North Catholic. She takes the reins of the Trojanettes from Emily Karr, who resigned after five years to accept another position out of state.

Karr was 62-34-2 at North Catholic. Her teams were 31-8-2 over the past two seasons, winning a pair of WPIAL Class 2A titles and reaching the state championship game last year.

Bloomsburg defeated the Trojanettes, 1-0, for the PIAA crown.

“There is pressure that comes with taking over this program,” Grenninger acknowledged. “But that's what makes coaching fun. That's why we do this.

“These girls expect to win.”

Grenninger served as head coach at Freeport for six years. She took the Yellowjackets to the WPIAL playoffs in each of those years. In 2016, Freeport won its first district playoff game in eight years.

Grenninger spent last fall serving as an assistant coach for her father's Karns City High School boys soccer team. That squad won the District 9 championship and claimed a 1-0 win over Bedford for its first state tournament win in five years.

That victory was also coach Jim Grenninger's 300th of his career.

“I give Brittni credit for drawing up the move that led to the only goal in that game,” Jim Grenninger said. “She has a tremendous soccer mind.

“The plan was going to be for her to take over the Karns City boys team when I retire. But she couldn't pass up this opportunity.”

Also involved in coaching with the Hotspurs soccer program — where she serves as a head coach and North Foundation Phase Leader — Brittni Grenninger did not apply for the North Catholic job when she first saw the job posted last winter.

“I wasn't sure if I'd have enough time to dedicate myself to it,” she said.

Then she saw the position re-posted in the spring.

“I felt like it was fate, seeing it posted a second time,” Grenninger said. “I applied for it and got it.”

North Catholic athletic director Brian Miller said 17 people applied for the job.

“We didn't feel we got the adequate response we wanted when we posted it the first time, so we decided to re-post it,” Miller said of the opening. “Brittni really stood out during her interview.

“She's dedicated to winning championships and that's important to us. The biggest characteristic we were looking for was a coach who truly cares about the student-athletes. She shined through that way during the interview.”

Grenninger was 88-30-4 at Freeport, including two undefeated section titles, two WPIAL semifinal appearances, one title game appearance and the first PIAA tournament win in the program's history.

A solid core of North Catholic's team is returning from last year, including leading scorer Jayden Sharpless. The 17-goal scorer will be a senior forward this fall. She had 10 assists last fall as well.

The Trojanettes have graduated stellar goalkeeper Andrea Bean and 16-goal scorer Grace Billmann.

“I think we've lost four seniors and three starters from last year's team,” Grenninger said. “I met with the girls and got them working out shortly after I got the job.

“This is a great group of girls. They are competitive. I'm confident this group can win another WPIAL championship. Anything short of that might be considered a failure.

“I know that's putting it out there, but that's the level this program is at right now and I'm excited about the challenge of keeping it there,” Grenninger added.

Jim Grenninger admits he will miss his assistant coach dearly.

“But it's great for her and I'm glad for her,” he said. “Brittni deserves an opportunity like this.”