GAMES- Wishart and Middle Girls’ Capture Soccer Crown

This wasn’t the first season where a coach and his team talked about winning a championship without truly believing it would happen. After 10 years of patrolling the sidelines, Bob Wishart Jr. is not new to leading high school athletes and developing motivational techniques, which fit the make up of his squad.
“So much had to go right even though we knew a championship was not out of reach,” said Wishart, who welcomed seven seniors back to Middle’s girls’ soccer team this fall. “The girls stepped up and elevated their games, especially after the setback against Holy Spirit.”
Second-seeded Middle brought home the program’s first South Jersey Group II title last Friday afternoon after winning a post-game penalty kick battle with fourth-seed Haddonfield in Court House after the teams finished 100 minutes of play knotted at zero.
The 18-3-2 Panthers were led by a freshman and senior scoring duo of Danielle McCann and Maddie DeVico who teamed up for more than 40 goals on the season.
Danielle is the perfect compliment to Maddie,” said Wishart, a physical education teacher. “When she gets close she finishes it. She’s always in the right place at the right time.”
DeVico, a team co-captain with Sara Shaw, “fights for every ball,” said Wishart, who picked up his 100th victory in the 2-1 triumph over third seed West Deptford in the semifinal. “She’s got really good ball skills and she fights for every ball. She pressures defenses.”
Shaw, another senior, is “the heart and soul of team” in Wishart’s estimation. “She’s the total package,” said the coach. “She’s complete on the offensive or defensive ends.” Shaw will play at Philadelphia University next season.
Junior Sara Roberts holds down the center-mid. “She’s overlooked because of Shaw,” said Wishart. “She really elevated her game in the playoffs with great tenacity and speed.”
Sophomore Jen Hicks is a mid fielder. Wishart said the team “doesn’t lose much” when Hicks enters the fray. “She’s our best defender in the mid field,” he said.
The coach calls Christina Startare “the best defender in South Jersey.” The junior uses her size effectively. “Haddonfield had a several girls at six feet or taller and they could really whip the ball on throw-ins,” said Wishart. “Christina had to keep them away from our net and she did that very well.”
Senior Kelsey McCusker scored 17 goals from her position on the defensive half of the pitch. Wishart gave her latitude to force play “with authority.”
Senior Melanie Sudell is another “solid defender,” said the coach. A former transfer from Wildwood Catholic, Sudell “had her best year,” added Wishart.
Wishart is eager to find more time next season for sophomore Elaina Nessler. “With our talent level it was tougher to get her on the field more often,” he noted.
Starting forward Kelly Edmunds was another key contributor. “She moves the ball very well,” said Wishart.
Senior Michaela Fiorucci marked the opponent’s top player while senior Miranda Holcombe was the club’s lone sub in the playoffs. “Michaela is our shut down player, pretty much our top forward,” said Wishart. “Miranda is one kid we really felt comfortable putting on the field during pressure situations. We look at her as one of our starters.”
The key to Middle’s success was between the pipes as Jessica Versage stepped into the breach when three preseason goalie plans went awry.
“She’d never played goal before,” said the coach. “Going in we had picked out three other girls who we thought would do the job but for various reasons that didn’t work out.”
Wishart said he just tossed it out to the team for volunteers to play the position. The aggressive senior proved that she wasn’t afraid and that she wasn’t going to flinch in tough spots.
Fifteen shut outs later, Versage has proven herself as quite capable of handling the pressure, including two huge penalty kick saves in the title game.
Wishart called this his “easiest season” because many of the athletes had been with the program for four years and understood how things should be done. The coach laughingly said that his role was often to stand out of the way and retrieve errant soccer balls.
“We all knew what to expect, there was no need to yell at them and they responded to that with maturity and self leadership,” said Wishart. “When I had to remind them not to get complacent they were not afraid to be pushed.”
Wishart is assisted by T.J. Moore and Mike Fiorucci. The Panthers traveled to Washington Township on Tuesday (Nov. 16) for the state semifinal.
“The kids look at everything else as gravy,” said Wishart. “They want to win the state title but the pressure if off. We’ve knocked off three ranked teams in a row so we’re no fluke.”
Reach Rossi at joerossi61@comcast.net
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