Healthy Latsko had Virginia on brink of NCAA championship
Veronica Latsko, who led Peters Township to three PIAA and two WPIAL championships, was one of the University of Virginia’s top reserves as a freshman last fall. Latsko scored 107 goals and 31 assists during her stellar career with the Indians.
Before attending the University of Virginia, forward Veronica Latsko scored 107 goals and recorded 31 assists in a stellar career at Peters Township.
The sun was shining over the two soccer teams and more than 4,000 fans Dec. 7 at Florida Atlantic University Stadium in Boca Raton, Fla., when Veronica Latsko trotted onto the field wearing her No. 12 navy blue and orange uniform during the NCAA Division I Women’s College Cup.
With the match locked in a scoreless tie in the 50th minute, Latsko jogged to her spot at the top of the University of Virginia team’s attack. It was an unforgettable moment for the Peters Township graduate.
Despite undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL that caused Latsko to miss her senior season at Peters Township, she assumed a pivotal role for Virginia as a freshman.
Though the Cavaliers lost the national title game 1-0 to Atlantic Coast Conference rival Florida State, the 5-8 forward registered a shot on goal and came within inches of tying the match in the 89th minute when her header sailed just inches over the crossbar.
Watching the Seminoles celebrate the victory was crushing for the former WPIAL standout, but almost 18 months after a devastating knee injury, Latsko played 52 minutes and almost helped Virginia win a national championship.
Months after being named the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and leading the Indians to their third consecutive state championship, Latsko was playing in the Pennsylvania State Cup Championship in the spring of 2013 at Slippery Rock University with Century United, her club team.
Latsko jumped in the air to attempt a header off a free kick, but it was out of her reach and heading toward the goalkeeper. As she landed, Latsko planted her right leg, felt discomfort in her right knee and fell to the ground.
The fear was she tore her anterior-cruciate ligament. The doubts became a reality when Dr. James Bradley, a renowned orthopedic surgeon, examined the knee and delivered the news.
“Everybody was saying I had torn it and said they definitely heard it pop,” Latsko said. “I just didn’t believe them. I didn’t believe it until I went into Dr. Bradley’s office. As soon as he felt it, he knew.”
One of the most prolific soccer players to ever compete in the WPIAL, Latsko also partially tore her meniscus and underwent surgery June 5.
Recovery time was estimated at six-to-nine months and would cost Latsko her senior season. The doubt instantly faded and Latsko tackled her recovery as she did her soccer career, with an intense attention to detail.
Every day Latsko went to a two-hour rehabilitation session at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center on the Southside. She then went home and placed her knee in a continuous passive motion machine, which is designed to bend and straighten the knee in a gentle manner to help keep the knee mobile.
That did not prevent Latsko from being a member of Peters Township’s soccer team. She never missed a practice her senior year and attended every game that did not conflict with her rehab schedule. As the Indians marched to their fourth consecutive WPIAL title game, Latsko supported her teammates every step of the way.
“It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” Latsko said. “I had never really sat out. I’ve had minor injuries, like a sprained ankle, but nothing like missing almost three months of my favorite time of the year, which is high school soccer. It was rough, but my teammates really helped.”
Her perseverance did not surprise Peters Township head coach Pat Vereb, who as a coach for Century United, saw the prolific scorer at her first tryout. The 11-year-old was sprinting past other players and showing a soft scoring touch that could not be taught.
Though it was customary to wait two days to offer a spot on the team, Vereb had Latsko grab her parents immediately after practice. He could not let her walk out the door.
“You could see from the moment she stepped on the field, even as an 11-year-old, her motor never stops,” Vereb said. “She competes so hard and there are probably players who have equal attributes to hers as far as speed, strength and skill, but her desire and work rate, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Peters Township lost in the WPIAL title game and PIAA quarterfinals to Seneca Valley, effectively ending Latsko’s high school soccer career, but it is one that will be talked about for some time. In three seasons, she helped the Indians win three state titles, two WPIAL titles and finished with 107 goals and 31 assists.
Her days wearing Peters Township red and black were over, but she was cleared to practice with her club team that spring. With a scholarship to Virginia, Latsko wanted to prepare herself for Division I soccer.
It was not easy.
“Those first practices were frustrating because I didn’t have any touch. I couldn’t cut or sprint as fast as I could, but by the summer, almost everything was back,” Latsko said. “It came back, and when it did it was the best feeling ever.”
After graduating with a 4.7 GPA, Latsko was joining one of the best women’s soccer programs in the NCAA. While the thought of reinjuring the knee lingered in her mind while off the field, she was at home on the pitch.
Latsko was the Cavaliers’ top reserve as a freshman last fall, logging 1,053 minutes and scoring three goals with two assists. Virginia head coach Steve Swanson, who was one of the first to call Latsko after the injury occurred, was impressed.
He pointed to the Cavaliers’ third goal in the College Cup semifinal against Texas A&M, when Latsko’s slide tackle started a play that led to Alexis Shaffer scoring the decisive goal.
“Veronica did not score as many goals as she would have hoped, but we are very confident in that aspect of her game,” Swanson said. “There is no question she went through, and is still going through, a learning phase. We are confident though, with continued hard work, Veronica can and will be one of the best attackers in college soccer by the time she is finished.”
Though Latsko did not match her dominant play as a freshman in high school when she scored 33 goals to help lift Peters Township’s soccer program to the top of the WPIAL, her first season in Charlottesville Va., was memorable.
She was a key member of an offensive attack that led the NCAA in goals per game. The fear of reinjuring her knee has crossed her mind, but the only thing Latsko thinks about while on the field is helping Virginia win.
The Cavaliers had a 23-3 overall record. After having to sit out her senior season of high school soccer, Latsko is enjoying every second of her college career.
“I enjoyed being on the field, even if it was for five minutes,” Latsko said. “It was amazing to know I helped the team go further. Whether it was giving somebody a break or running as hard and fast as I can for the amount of time I’m in there for.”