Scoring machines
Kaylee Comperatore and Lindsie Galbreath did more than put the ball in the net with impressive regularity this season.
They were the focal points of their respective attacks.
And they share the Butler Eagle's Girls Soccer Player of the Year honor as a result.
Comperatore, a senior forward, led Freeport with 32 goals and 15 assists. The Yellowjackets scored 95 goals on the year. Comperatore was on the score-sheet for practically half of them.
“We're going to miss her dearly,” Freeport coach Brittni Grenninger said. “For all she's been through with injuries, to come back and do what she's done ... Kaylee is an absolutely fearless player.”
Galbreath, a junior forward, willed Knoch into the WPIAL playoffs by scoring 27 of the Knights' 45 goals on the season. She assisted on eight of the other 18.
No other Knoch player scored more than five goals this season.
“In section play, Lindsie would be triple teamed, even quadrupled at times,” Knoch coach Kevin Wood said. “Still. she did not press, trying to make things happen for herself.
“She knew how to draw attention to other players and then capitalize.”
Karns City senior forward Haley Scherer — with 34 goals and 10 assists on the year — also received consideration for Player of the Year in what proved to be a season of explosive players.
Slippery Rock's Kayla Daugherty had 27 goals and 20 assists, Mars had four players score between 15 and 18 goals, and Freeport's Sidney Shemanski had 18 goals and 22 assists.
While Comperatore is leaning toward attending Butler County Community College to study nursing, she is receiving Division II and III interest from college programs.
Galbreath is still exploring college possibilities, but is leaning toward Slippery Rock and West Liberty right now.
“Kaylee would make some (college) team quite a player,” Grenninger said. “She battled back from two sprained ankles the past couple of years and had three teeth knocked out in a game last year, ending her season.
“The girl had three root canals, but came back and showed no apprehension, wasn't timid as all. She played as hard as ever.”
Comperatore said her aggressive style of play “probably brought about some of those injuries.” Then again, she didn't care.
“When I have the ball, I just go,” she said. “The defenders close in and I get sandwiched a lot.
“Sometimes it gets me.”
But she gets to the opposition more.
“I've been playing soccer since I was 7 and I've always been the goal scorer,” Comperatore said. “I love that. I'm very competitive and I love to win. You win in soccer by putting the ball in the net.”
Freeport finished this season 16-3-1, reaching the WPIAL Class 2A semifinals.“Brittni and (assistant coach) Lex Zamora had a lot to do with taking our team to the next level,” Comperatore said. “Plus, we had a bunch of girls who wanted to get it there.”Grenninger described Comperatore as “a physical player with a tremendous amount of speed.“That combination really worked for her,” the coach added.Comperatore led her section in scoring and was an All-WPIAL player.Galbreath will enter her senior season at Knoch needing 19 points to become the third player in program history to reach 100 career points.She wants to trump that.“I'm hoping for 100 career goals,” Galbreath said. “I've got around 60 right now. I know it would take a huge year, but I'd love to take a shot at it.”Wood estimates Galbreath's goal total at between 60 and 65 entering next season.“I love to hear her talk that way,” Wood said. “If Lindsie scores 35 or 40 goals, Knoch girls soccer is going to have a monster season.“We graduated a bunch of quality seniors last year and I told Lindsie this year's team will go as far as she can take it. We got to the playoffs. She'll be counted on to be even more of a leader next year and she embraces that.“Lindsie knows how to get the most out of her teammates and how to get her teammates to get the most out of her,” Wood added.Galbreath was the second leading goal scorer in all of WPIAL Class 4A and 3A this season, trailing only Moon's Delaney Snyder, who netted 56 goals and is headed to Miami (Ohio) University on a soccer scholarship next year.“I will be putting a lot of pressure on myself next year,” Galbreath admitted. “I want my team to be able to count on me, rely on me ... For that to happen, I'm gonna have to jump it up another notch and I plan on doing that.”
