Sidelines: Bryan s scoring machine

Bryan coach Kim Pepple congratulates Katrina Geesey during a home victory over Riverdale. The Golden Bears are 9-2-2.

Bryan junior Katrina Geesey has scored 30 goals in 13 games this season, including eight in one game.

BRYAN The numbers Katrina Geesey has amassed on the soccer field this season have been staggering.

The Bryan girls soccer team has played 13 games this season, and Geesey has scored 30 goals.

The junior center-forward scored eight goals yes, eight goals in one game this season.

But here s the craziest part she could be scoring more.

I ve told Katrina that she s too unselfish, Bryan coach Kim Pepple said. She needs to shoot more. Her freshman and sophomore year she would give the ball up, and I d have to tell her that she gave up a good shot.

And when she scores her three goals [in a game], I move her to a different position: maybe midfield, maybe defense. And she never complains. She just wants to be on the field.

While Geesey s favorite position is forward, she said she tries to use her time at other positions to learn more about the game.

Bryan coach Kim Pepple congratulates Katrina Geesey during a home victory over Riverdale. The Golden Bears are 9-2-2.

It shows me how hard the other girls work out there, Geesey said. Sometimes I don t realize how hard they work. Their jobs are so hard. It gives me a different view of the game.

Geesey, in her third season on the varsity, needs just one goal in her team s final two contests to tie the school single-season record of 31 set by Ashley Nichols in 1996.

Geesey has challenged that scoring mark before with 25 goals as a freshman, then 27 more as a sophomore to put her halfway towards her career target of 100 goals.

But Geesey modestly kept that goal a secret.

I m her coach, and I didn t know that was her individual goal until the end of her sophomore year, Pepple said.

Geesey seems almost embarrassed by the attention.

I try not to [hog the ball] I don t want to be seen as that, she said. I get the ball, and if I see I don t have the best shot, I try to get it to the person who does. I think I get way too much credit for [the goals], so I try to let other people get the glory, too.

Pepple said Geesey has a combination of speed and quickness that helps her create scoring opportunities.

People think [speed and quickness] go together, and they really don t, Pepple said. But her quickness gets her open, and then she s very fast. Also she has great endurance; she doesn t ever get tired.

I think she is capable of playing at the next level. She is an excellent student. She s coachable. And she puts a lot on her shoulders. If she doesn t score, she ll sometimes put her head down not because she just wants the goals, but because she wants what is best for the team.

Geesey scores important goals. In the Golden Bears 2-1 victory over Central Catholic she registered both tallies, and she had a pair of goals in a 3-1 win over Riverdale last Saturday. Bryan has a 9-2-2 record.

But Geesey s signature performance was the school-record eight goals against Ottoville. Pepple said that record was especially impressive because Geesey sat out part of the match and also played defense for a good portion.

My team is behind me so much. They got the ball up to me so much, Geesey said. All I had to do is put it in the goal. I work hard out there, I think, but it s still a little shocking that I ve had so many goals.

Contact John Wagner at:jwagner@theblade.com or 419-724-6481.