Cleveland State recruit Coholich focused on team success for Hampton girls soccer

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, September 20, 2018 | 9:30 PM

Ask Courtney Coholich about her soccer game, and she will tell you all about her team.

On the field — and even off of it — that’s the only aspect she’s concerned with.

“I love soccer because of the team,” she said. “It’s all about the team. The girls are the main influence. I think you can succeed individually, but it all comes down to the team.”

Coholich is the main cog in the Hampton girls soccer wheel — a team that is off to a solid start this season, partly thanks to the center midfielder’s strong work on both ends.

Despite a 3-2 loss to Kiski Area in section play, the team reeled off four straight wins and entered the weekend 5-2 overall and 4-1 in Section 1-3A.

“The thing I try to portray to the team is positivity,” she said. “Once you lose that, I think a lot can go downhill. We bounce back very well. I think that shows a lot about our character.”

“You can’t replace her,” coach Bill Paholich said. “She’s all over the place. A lot of people have misconception about her size, but she more than makes up for it in heart.”

Coholich, listed at an even 5-foot tall, party compensates for her size limitations with more than skill — she plays tough. As a child, she played in boys’ leagues, and was heavily influenced by her two older brothers, Matthew and Daniel.

“I think that really shaped me,” she said. “It’s a lot different than playing with girls. They always pushed me since I was younger. … Ever since I was younger I was outside playing with them.”

Coholich played for Arsenal FC of Pittsburgh before joining the Riverhounds Academy at its inception in 2008, where she met two other men who would become major influences — coaches Jason Kutney and Scott Gibson.

“I definitely wouldn’t be the player I am without them,” Coholich said. “You have to show up and give 110 percent. You have to show up and put in the work. I try to take that mentality into high school season and show the girls you have to have that work ethic.”

Coholich, a two-time WPIAL all-section selection, is vocal on the field, and also commands respect from her teammates off of it.

“She’s awesome,” said Pahoich of his star midfielder. “There’s not much more you can say. … The kids all respect her. If Courtney says something, the kids will do it. She just commands that respect from Day 1.”

The senior attributes her willingness to make the necessary sacrifices to her success.

“I think it’s shaped the person I’ve become,” she said of her year-round commitment to soccer since an early age. “I’ve trained on Friday nights during basketball games and other school functions. I’ve had to give up some of those things. But it just shows in life, you have to be willing to make sacrifices to go far.”

She took the next step in going further when she committed to Cleveland State her junior year. She found coach Dallas Boyer and his staff to have a lot in common with her perspective.

“I loved Dallas’s mentality,” she said. “It’s the girls you meet and the memories you make. I was talking to him and thought we had the same ideas — chemistry and teamwork.”

Coholich plans to major in environmental engineering, not surprisingly a field which entails studying parts and how they move as a unit.

“It’s beautiful when it all works,” she said. “When you win a game, you win together, and it connects. You win and lose as a team. It takes all 11 girls to do it.”

Devon Moore is a freelance writer.

Tags: Hampton