Culture

November 2022 EASTSIDE Page 19

■ By Julia Sitnick (‘25)

Eastside Sports Editor

Lizzy Sommeling (‘23) has committed to play Division 1 soccer for the reigning America East women’s soccer champion team at the University of Vermont.

Sommeling has been a four-year varsity player for East and has served in her second consecutive year as a team captain. She is a crucial player for the Cougars and demonstrates her versatility as a center midfielder. Sommeling has very strong technical skills and soccer IQ that allow her to support the offense by connecting passes while also moving to help the defense when needed. This season, Sommeling was the team’s leading scorer and recorded an impressive 14 goals and four assists for East.

Soccer has been a big part of Sommerling’s life ever since she started playing in the recreational league at age three. While she continued to play soccer and other sports during elementary school, at age 10 her focus shifted exclusively to soccer when her family moved to Italy for a year. During her time living in Italy, Sommeling played on two soccer teams, including an all-boys club team. Initially, the language barrier made it more challenging to play, but Sommeling stuck with the team and learned to play a more physical game.

“As time went on, my Italian got better and I grew to be more comfortable . . . . I think it definitely helped me develop into the player I am today,” said Sommeling.

When she returned home from Italy, Sommeling knew that she wanted to get serious about planning to play soccer in college and started to play year round at PDA (Players Development Academy). Sommeling’s dad has always supported her as an athlete and has been there for her. Sommeling views her dad as the person who has impacted her the most as a player.

“He has been there the whole time. He comes to every single one of my games [and] whether it’s an hour away or five minutes away, he’s there,” said Sommeling.

Her talent on the field has made Sommeling a standout soccer player in South Jersey. In 2021, she was selected as a first team Olympic Conference player and has been named a Top 20 player in South Jersey.

While college recruiting for soccer typically starts during sophomore year, COVID delayed the recruiting process for Sommeling. During her junior year, Sommeling attended many national showcases with PDA in Tennessee,

Florida and New Jersey. Throughout the year, she spoke with coaches on the phone, attended clinics and visited colleges. After receiving an invitation from Lucas Tang (‘23)/ Eastside Photo Editor

the University of Vermont’s coach, Sommeling visited the university last January and discovered that the program offered the perfect balance of academics and athletics. “I loved it despite the cold. It was really snowy. They set me up with a player on the team. I got to go around campus with her. . . . I got to watch a practice. All through the spring, I saw other schools, but I always compared them to Vermont. Vermont was the

best,” said Sommeling. Playing soccer at East has been a highlight of Sommeling’s high school experience. One of her favorite memories is the East versus West game during Cherry Hill Soccer Night in 2021. There was a doubleheader that night and a huge crowd came out to watch the game where she scored the tying goal. “It’s the most fans we’ve ever had. As a girl’s sport, we don’t get a lot of love. It was really cool to have everyone there and everyone so excited for me and for the team,” said Sommeling. Soccer has played a large role in Sommeling’s life and has taught her numerous lessons that impact her far and beyond the sport she plays. By being a team player, she has developed strong communication skills, gained leadership experience and learned to always get right back up from challenges that knocked her down and keep trying. “The biggest thing that high school soccer has taught me is how to bring people back up and how to support your teammates, hug them when they are down, wipe their tears,” said Sommeling. “It was always just rub some dirt on it for me, but as I went through high school that is something that I have learned, caring for other people,” said Sommeling. East welcomes new girls’ varsity soccer coach Steelman-Tonon

■ By Adam Borenstein (‘23)

Eastside Online Sports Editor

For Rachel SteelmanTonon, soccer has been a big part of her life every step of the way. Her soccer journey began when she started playing at age three. She played at Oakcrest High School, where she was a four-year member and led the team in assists in her final three years. She then ended up playing Division I soccer at Mount St. Mary’s and most recently played for Philadelphia Lone Star F.C., a semi-pro team. Steelman-Tonon’s next stop in her soccer journey took her to Cherry Hill High School East to become the new head coach of the girls’ soccer team.

Steelman-Tonon came to East knowing that the team would be young and in a developmental stage. The team hasn’t achieved a winning record in over 10 years, but she is confident in herself to turn the program around.

“By accepting the position at East, I accepted more of a development team,” Steelman-Tonon said. “I’ve always thrived in developing young players into older and greater players. I knew that this was a young team that has a lot of potential, and I knew that I could develop them into a team that I know can be successful.”

Steelman-Tonon also noted that with a young team comes a small team. She wants the team to play wider and use their speed to their advantage to help evade defenders on breakaways.

As a former Division I soccer player, SteelmanTonon wants to instill all of the knowledge that she gained from that experience into her players. She wants her players to take practice seriously and to always practice like they play. She also believes that your job is never safe and you always have to work hard and battle for your position.

“In such a fast-paced environment, you can never take your foot off of the gas,” Steelman-Tonon said. “I always feel that the second you do, it’s the second you take two steps back. Using my Division I experience would essentially be always working hard, always coming to play, and listening to what the coaches have to say.”

Steelman-Tonon’s Division I experience has also helped her be a mentor to Lizzy Sommeling (‘23), who is committed to playing at the University of Vermont next year. As someone who can relate to the position that Sommeling is in, she stresses to her to believe in herself as a player and as a person and to always practice hard because it will always pay off in the end.

Those who have attended the East girls’ soccer Varsity games this year may have noticed a new face on the sidelines standing right next to Steelman-Tonon. Anyone who stopped to observe the two coaches may

Lucas Tang (‘23)/ Eastside Photo Editor

have been surprised at the ease in which the two new coaches were able to communicate with each other, that is, until they found out that the two coaches had been working with each other for a very long time before their arrival at East. When Steelman-Tonon took the job, she recruited her dad to join her as she embarked on her new coaching career. She credits her dad as one of the main reasons for her getting to the semipro level and to even get to go to some professional practices.

“To have my dad next to me as a coach obviously means a lot to me,” Steelman-Tonon said. “With everything that he has watched me grow up and do, now I get to stand alongside him and see the things that he used to yell at me for. I definitely enjoy it a lot.”

Aside from being the East girls’ soccer coach. Steelman-Tonon works as an accountant during the day. She does not work for the district but is open to a potential job in the district in the future.

In just her first season, Steelman-Tonon led her team to the No. 8 overall seed in the South Jersey Group 4 playoffs. This is the first building block to a very suceessful program that Steelman-Tonon plans to build.

With the energy and passion that SteelmanTonon brings, the future is certainly looking bright for the East girls’ soccer team. As long as they continue to work and practice hard, Steelman-Tonon believes that her team can compete with anyone on their schedule. It will be exciting to watch how her young players grow and develop over the coming years, while Steelman-Tonon’s coaching experience develops, too.

November 2022 EASTSIDE Page 20

■ By Shayna Oppen (‘24)

Eastside Sports Editor

Cherry Hill High School East’s football team has a winning record for the first time since 2011. Some people say students can attribute the record this year to the new head coach, Mr. Tyler Drob, who also now teaches math at East.

Drob attended East himself and played football. Drob graduated from East in 2013 after participating in the school’s last winning season before this year.

East football has changed a lot since Drob was a player.

“We now have a turf field, a different schedule, and a whole new coaching staff. There are still many things that are still the same,” Drob said.

Drob said the team’s winning record is due to the efforts of a lot of people.

“This has been a group effort from all the coaches and players,” Drob said, adding that even when the team was winning, they remained dedicated to improving further as the season went on.

Drob brought some of his assistant coaches on as well, including Coach Beyer, Coach McDonald and Coach Watson. Drob calls himself lucky to have found such a great coaching staff. All of the coaches have come together to create three main goals: “win our conference, go above .500 for the first time in ten years, and beat West,” Drob said, with two of these goals met this year, though West beat East.

When attending one of East’s football games, you’ll notice that the coaches all wear shirts that say FACTS, which stands for facts, accountability, competition, toughness and sportsmanship.

“This acronym represents five things we stand for as a program on and off the field,” said Drob.

In seasons to come, Drob has plans to make sure they remain a winning team.

“We will continue to practice hard and do the same things that have allowed us to win games so far. We constantly talk about expecting to win,” he said.

Drob started playing football at age six and continued all the way through college. When he attended West Chester University in Pennsylvania, his team made the playoffs four times and won a conference champion ship. Drob was also a two-time AllAmerican.

Although Drob is new to the head coach position, he is not new to the coaching world. He has been a coach at East for the past few years. ¨I have watched these kids grow off the field more than anything. So many players have become leaders throughout the past six months. The whole group has learned to hold each other accountable and really become one big family,¨ he said.

With Drob leading the team, many hope that East can expect great things across these next few seasons. The team is excited

Liam Butler (‘25)/ Eastside Staff

to keep the winning culture they are building alive and the East population has shown increased support for an up-and-coming football team that has come a long way since the struggles of years past. Girls’ tennis team crushes another season

■ By Ava Crawley (‘25)

Eastside Online Features Editor

“It’s never over till it’s over” is the motivating phrase by which many athletes on the East Girls’ Tennis team live. It can be heard throughout both practices and games, whether it’s from Coach Mary Jewett, or the team’s captains, Anika Gupta (‘23) and Julia Chan (‘23).

The team’s performance from prior years indicates how hard every player is willing to work in order to better the team. During last year’s season, the team went 12-3 overall and 6-1 in the Olympic Conference. They also played at the Sectional Finals. In 2020 their overall record was 11-1 and 8-1 in the Olympic Conference. And last but definitely not least the team wowed with their 19-5 overall record and 14-0 Olympic Conference record during their 2019 season.

Though the team lost many of their beloved seniors from last year, they were thrilled to have a new group of talented players and a revamped court. Due to the construction of the tennis courts during the 2021 fall sports season, the Girls’ Tennis Team had to practice at Beck Middle School’s courts, taking plenty of time out of their practices to get there and back. This year, it was much more convenient to have a new tennis court right on East’s property. The girls were able to end school together and walk over to the courts as a team, strengthening their already close bond.

East Girls’ Tennis worked on constantly getting to know one another and strived to create a safe space for every player.

“It means a lot to know that these girls feel safe

The captains aren’t the only ones who focused on creating a safe space. Jewett aimed to be someone to whom the girls felt comfortable talking. After coaching for many years, she understands just how stressful sports can get, so she’d constantly remind the team that mental and physical health come before tennis. with different people and playing practice matches. They would often reflect on how they played at their games and work on different skills that would make them better athletes. Each person on the team proves her determination and passion by carrying what she learned at practice into her matches.

Ellie Noh (‘24)/ Eastside Community Editor

talking to us about problems both related to tennis or not,” said Chan.

As captains of the team, Gupta and Chan tried to organize as many bonding activities as they could, whether it was last-minute boba runs after practice or scheduled team dinners.

“She’s a really great person and I think we are all very inspired by her actions on and off the court,” said Gupta.

At practice, the girls worked hard so their skills could shine bright in matches. They usually spent time completing drills, working

”It’s so nice knowing that, at a match, everyone around you loves tennis just as much as you do,” said Gupta.

The girls’ hard work is evident in the many matches that occurred throughout their fall season, and it’s clear that everyone was more than happy to be playing.

At the start of the season Chan said, “I think it’s great that everyone is willing to work hard and push themselves to be the best they can be… that will take us far this season,”

Lo and behold she was right. The girls worked vigorously throughout their season and thanks to their dedication they were able to make it far.

This year, East proved their success in multiple matches. Towards the beginning of the season, the team placed second at the Haddonfield Invitational, a large tournament held by Haddonfield Memorial High School. As the season progressed East was able to beat Cherokee three times, Winslow once, Rancocas Valley twice, Eastern twice, Bishop Eustace once and Seneca once. They made it through the first few rounds of State Sectionals, beating Central Regional, Milville, and Cherokee high schools. Though they put up a strong fight against Lenape, they unfortunately lost the final round of State Sectionals.

The team celebrates their accomplishments and plans to work on specific skills for future success. Though the season has ended, that didn’t stop the girls from their classic boba runs and special team dinners; after all, they are still one big family on and off the court.

Todd Barrett (‘85) for Soccer, Baseball; Theresa Cattuna (‘07) for X-Country, Track; John Coen (‘90) for Football, Track; Jackie Herb (‘05) for Tennis; Margie Krzeminski (‘87) for Soccer; Elyse Mitchell (‘03) for Volleyball, Basketball, Softball, Track; John Newcomb (‘80) for Tennis; Tara Owens (‘92) for Field Hockey, Lacrosse; Cathy Richter (‘03) for Tennis, Softball Kevin Roche (‘97) for Volleyball, X-Country; Chris Santo (‘11) for Basketball; Ryan Shore (‘03) for Swimming; Debbie Wilkinson (‘84) for Swimming; Kim Wilkinson (‘82) for Swimming; Ravi Yega-Raman (‘08) for Tennis; Dave Cole (coach) for Girls’ Tennis; Karl Moehlmann (coach) for Boys’ Soccer, B/G Volleyball