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P.O. Soccer Player of the Year
Name: Andrew Collier
School: Chambersburg
Grade: Senior
Position: Center midfielder
Size: 5-foot-11, 175 pounds
Parents: Fred Collier and Caitlin Madden
Interests: In school, Collier is in the German club and ping-pong club, he spends time on Facebook and he likes music and dancing. He plays on the club team LDC United of Harrisburg.
College plans: He plans to go to college and hopes to play soccer.
2009 stats: Collier scored 18 goals and added 7 assists.
Career: He has scored 26 goals, with 12 assists.
Other honors: Mid Penn Commonwealth Division first team, P.O. second team in 2008.
By ED GOTWALS
Sports editor
Andrew Collier, despite being a four-year letterwinner and three-year starter at Chambersburg, was not known for his goal-scoring abilities.
In his first three seasons, he had scored just eight goals total.
But when Trojan coach Mike Dent asked Collier to be a scorer this season, he came through with 18 goals and seven assists, helping Chambersburg improve its record from 5-11 a year ago to 11-9-1 this year, including a run to the quarterfinals of the District 3 Class AAA tournament.
Collier is the Public Opinion Soccer Player of the Year.
"Coach told me last year that I would have to attack more this year," Collier said. "After the first scrimmage -- we didn't score against either Warwick or Lower Dauphin -- he said to me, 'We
In Collier's mind, the biggest reason for the jump in that number was simple: "We had a better team this year.
"I think almost all of my goals was assisted, and most of them came from Nick Bunting. So many of my goals came from crosses that he hit."
In Chambersburg's three district playoff games, Collier scored four goals.
"He really put the ball in the net when we needed it," Dent said. "And he scored against sides that others had trouble scoring against."
Collier scored three goals in a game twice, against Greencastle-Antrim and CD East. But he also had two each against playoff teams Central Dauphin, West York and Dallastown.
Dent said, "He played center midfield early, and I asked him to attack more. I wanted him to stretch us forward, so at times he looked like he was playing center striker."
The highlight of the season for Collier was the playoffs. The Trojans beat Elizabethtown 3-1, then knocked off No. 2-seeded Dallastown 4-2. The run came to an end with a 2-1 loss to Warwick in the quarterfinals.
"Only one other Trojan team had made it to the quarterfinals, and we were the first to win two district games," said Collier, who scored in each game, including twice against Dallastown.
While Chambersburg began the season hot, winning its first six games and eight of its first 10, a 1-6-1 stretch to end the regular season took some of the luster off. It took a return trip to Caledonia to get the team back on track.
"Coach took us on a Saturday run at Caledonia before the playoffs started," Collier said. "We needed to lick our wounds and come together as a team again. We ran on the Appalachian Trail, around (Long Pine) dam and on some other trails.
"I think the guys rallied together and got a positive attitude again. Caledonia is kind of hallowed ground for us, since we ran there in the preseason. We were able to clear our minds and run for each other."
Playing in college is in Collier's future, but what school that might be is a big question.
Dent said, "Andrew can be successful as a college player. He's got to be one of the better soccer prospects coming out of this area. I know he'd like to play Division I, but that might not be at the highest level.
"What I like about him most is his ability to finish balls off the first time. His one-touch play is the best I've seen for a while. He'll know where players are supposed to be and can flick or skim the ball to them, or change the point of attack."
All valuable skills that a college coach would love to have. And so is scoring goals.
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Ed Gotwals may be reached at 262-4755 and egotwals@publicopinionnews.com.
