When Wes Lohrman was named the head coach for the inaugural NY-PA Corporate Cup Soccer Showcase last year, he wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
Lohrman, fresh off of leading the Bradford Owls to the District 9 title game this season, has taken a bit of a different approach when it comes to coaching some of the area’s top soccer talent.
“The game itself is competitive,” he said of New York’s 1-0 win last year. “I wasn’t certain what to expect when we stepped on the field last year. It quickly went from a showcase game to a competitive game. I know that my PA guys would love to get the trophy and bring it back over this side of the border this year.”
And there’s a lot more riding on the game than just bragging rights. Last year 14 college coaches were in attendance and three boys that played in that game are currently on college rosters.
Lohrman’s PA squad is loaded with talent again this year, including six players from Bradford High. And despite getting to coach the best Pennsylvania soccer players from Coudersport to Warren, he admits there have been a few bumps along the way.
“There has been a challenge in building chemistry,” he said. “You take kids that spend most of their high school years playing against each other and now they are on the same side. We aren’t always going to put best friends on the field together, but they are building new bonds and relationships.”
That is also part of what makes the game unique. Lohrman and his six Bradford players will be on the same sideline as three DuBois players that helped to beat the Owls in that D-9 title game in October.
As with all-star games in almost any sport, Lohrman also has to figure out how to delicately balance playing time amongst so many star players. It is another thing that he has a much better grasp on this year compared to last.
“We’ve been pouring over this and we have a general idea of how we want to get players in and out,” he said. We are going to give everybody a chance to play at the start. We will factor in health, stamina, and how they’re working with the players they have around them. We want to have the strongest team, so as the game progresses, we will go with the kids that give us the best chance.”
Lohrman also admits that he only knows bits and pieces of information regarding the New York team, but anticipates another tight game. Lohrman, along with his three assistant coaches, structured the team to have an equal balance of talent all the way from the strikers to the goalkeepers.
“We built our roster with an even mix,” he said. “For a variety of reasons it’s tough to get everyone together for practices, but I’m comfortable with where we’re at.”
Allegany-Limestone’s head coach Jon Luce will also be on the sidelines for the second consecutive year for the New York side. Luce was unavailable for comment this week, but spoke to the Times Herald’s Chuck Pollock in April about this year’s group.
“We had between 45 and 50 kids try out for 22 spots,” Luce said. “It was great to see the talent come into the gym and it’s like the name of the game … Showcase.”
“We’re showcasing the talent we have in this area. We took our best 22 players, but we had a formula we wanted to fill (and) we picked several multi-purpose players. We wanted every player to show us what they had. I have the title of head coach, but we all share the responsibilities (including third assistant J.J. Mcintosh from Portville, Cuba-Rushford’s Nick Perillo and Wellsville’s Matt Johengen) and bounce ideas off each other.”
The game will be played on Saturday, May 19 at the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford Kessel Athletic Complex at 1 p.m. A girls game has also been added this year, set to kickoff at 4 o’clock.
