Girls varsity soccer off and running at Edison High School

First goal and first victory are milestones that will have to wait for the Thomas A. Edison girls soccer team. In the meantime, there was plenty to take in and be proud of for those who helped the sport get off the ground at the Elmira Heights school Wednesday afternoon.

An experienced Trumansburg team that was Section 4 Class C runner-up each of the previous two seasons earned a 10-0 triumph on the artificial turf at Northrop Field.

The final score was a footnote from the Edison perspective.

"We haven’t ever had a program, so we never really knew how much fun it was going to be," Spartans junior Hannah Lasko said. "After the first week of practices and the first game it’s a lot of fun to play with the team."

TAE head coach Kevin Weber said girls soccer at the school was "a long time coming."

While possession time was decidedly in the Blue Raiders' favor, Edison impressed early. The Spartans kept Trumansburg scoreless until nearly the halfway mark of the first half. The Raiders added three more first-half goals before putting up six in the second half.

"They played themselves into the game right away," Weber said of his team. "They didn’t shy away, they came out firing. They weren’t scared or anything like that. They did the best they could and they absolutely battled. I think tired legs and things like that happened as the game continued on. They’re a very quality program returning most of their girls from the last couple years, when they’ve done very well."

Spartans learning on the pitch together

Lasko came over to soccer after previously competing in cross country during the fall. She hadn't played competitive soccer since fifth grade with the Chemung Valley Soccer Association (CVSA). She said she was "a little rusty" before her soccer skills started to come back after a few practices.

The only member of the team with experience playing travel soccer is sophomore Alexis Mosher.

"Everyone else it was CVSA or gym class," Weber said.

Lasko said one goal is to jell into a cohesive team by the end of the season.

"We had no idea going into it how the other girls were," she said. "We’ve never played against these teams before. We kind of just had to learn piece by piece what was going to happen."

The Spartans moved players around during the contest and Weber could see his team adjusting to varsity soccer on the fly.

"Besides playing in the gym, obviously it’s a lot different out here," he said. "Just the 80 minutes of experience of how a game works, how the free kicks work, how the field feels, and the positions and the different responsibilities, that first game was the best learning experience we could have hoped for."

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Son and father coaching together

Weber, a math teacher, said it is exciting for him to coach at a school he teaches at for the first time. He coached the modified team in its first season last year and made the jump with several players to varsity. Shane Devlin is now modified coach.

Edison's boys soccer modified team is also in its second season. The hope is there are enough players next year to field a boys varsity team.

"We have a program that can continue to build," Weber said. "It’s easy to say we’re looking for the future and the next few years, but for this team it’s building for tomorrow and building for this weekend when we go to Union Springs tournament and just continuing to get better and learn the game and enjoy the game."

Weber brings years of experience to the job, including four seasons as co-head coach at Elmira Notre Dame, where his dad, Steve Weber , became one of the winningest girls soccer coaches in New York state history. They also coached together for a season at Corning Community College.

Steve has joined Kevin as an assistant at Edison.

"When your assistant coach is a member of the Girls Soccer Hall of Fame, you’d have to think your program is in good hands, at least from the fresh start," Kevin said. "It’s great being back out with him again and having his knowledge and working with our goalies and helping me out."

Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare . You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com . To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today

This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Girls varsity soccer off and running at Edison High School