Observer-Reporter Athlete of the Week
Name: Veronica Latsko
School: Peters Township
Class: Junior
Sport: Soccer
Latsko’s week: Latsko scored three goals, two during a Class AAA semifinal win over Gateway, and another with 27 seconds left in the second overtime period to carry the Indians to a 2-1 victory over Seneca Valley in the WPIAL final at Elizabeth Forward this past Saturday.
Overall, in three WPIAL playoff matches, Latsko had half of Peters Township’s goals, giving her 33 this season entering Tuesday’s PIAA Class AAA first-round match against Bethel Park.
A passer, too: Latsko is widely regarded as the best girls soccer player in the WPIAL and state, and she has already committed to play college soccer at the University of Virginia.
But never one to take anything for granted, Latsko has become an effective passer, too – helpful, given the limited amount of space she’s had to work with this season.
“This year I had to get used to passing a lot more because I haven’t had a lot of open space,” Latsko said. “This year has really helped me become more of a diverse player.
“My teammates have helped me become better with the pressure. They support me, and they’ve taught me ways where I can pass the ball on different angles and in different spaces and still get it back and be a help to the play.”
One that sticks out: Latsko has scored 111 goals in her career – through the WPIAL playoffs – but asked to pick her favorite out of the bunch, she’d chose her goal in the 10th minute of a 3-0 win over Section 5-AAA rival Upper St. Clair on Sept. 24.
The goal came from about 15 yards and was a left-footed drive through two defenders, put into a part of the goal where nobody could get it – a goal-scorer’s goal.
“That’s Veronica being Veronica,” Upper St. Clair coach Dave Gray said at the time. “Two people on her, makes two cuts, hits a great ball in the upper corner. What a great goal.”
It also came against the team that upset the Indians in last year’s WPIAL final. Peters Township later beat the Panthers, 1-0, in the PIAA Class AAA semifinals en route to a second consecutive state title.
“It was nice to score against our big rival, the first time we were playing them since last year at states,” Latsko said.
Not just a soccer player: Latsko is anything but your typical jock. Not only does she have a 4.9 grade-point average, but she’s also a member of the National Honor Society and volunteers with Students Against Destructive Decisions, helping with a Haunted Hallways project last month at one of Peters Township’s elementary schools.
Her latest trick: To defeat Seneca Valley and win the program’s second WPIAL title in the past three years, Latsko headed a Rachel Troscinski corner kick to seal the win.
That game, Latsko said, was a personal point of pride. It’s also great to be on top again.
“I felt like that game was so much more intense than the one two years ago, and you could tell that we worked hard,” Latsko said. “That was a good team, and we just outworked them.”
– Compiled by Jason Mackey