CUMBERLAND — Fort Hill’s Jemma Stafford was thrown into the fire as a freshman, but the Sentinel keeper avoided a sophomore slump.
Stafford was under frequent pressure, finishing second locally in saves per game, and she was honored as The Sports Shoppe Goalkeeper of the Year by the area’s head coaches.
“She had a fantastic season,” Fort Hill head coach Dave Neff said. “She was coming off her freshman year where she was also our starting keeper all year. Had big shoes to fill immediately with Lindsey Ternent going out, four-year starter, Keeper of the Year award winner as well.
“So everything that she had issues with her freshman year, she pretty well fixed them in her sophomore season and that just made her an outstanding keeper altogether. She’s always been fearless, she’s always been hard-working, but she fixed the mental mistakes this year and that made a big difference.”
The girls soccer awards were selected at a meeting of the area’s head coaches.
Allegany’s Andy Farrell was also named Coach of the Year in today’s edition of the Times-News, and the offensive and defensive players of the year will be revealed Friday.
The award winners, with the exception of Coach of the Year, will receive their awards at the 77th Dick Sterne Memorial Dapper Dan Sports Banquet at a date/time to be announced.
Frankfort’s Megan Weaver was the runner-up for the honor.
Stafford is Fort Hill’s fifth Goalkeeper of the Year winner, but she’s the first non-Ternent to do so.
Lindsey Ternent garnered the award in 2022, and Hailey Ternent did so three times in a row from 2017-19.
It was far from an easy season for Stafford, who was tasked with making 176 saves in 15 games, an average of 11.73 per game.
Her total saves were third in the area behind Weaver (262) and Hampshire’s Evalette Lease (207), and she was second in saves per game behind Weaver (15.41).
“We constantly remind Jemma, especially on games that we know are going to be very challenging, that ‘hey, every ball that’s hit at you, it’s past all 10 of our other players,’” Neff said.
“So 10 other people have made a mistake to get to you. … I tell my girls, especially Jemma, to have that goldfish mentality.”
With two more years of Stafford in net, Neff is excited for the keeper’s future.
“I expect this play out of her routinely,” he said. “I think next year we have another girl coming in as well, potentially as a backup. So I hope that she mentors her some as well, which she did do with our freshman keeper that came in this year.
“The biggest thing that we want to see out of her improvement-wise, is her taking full control of the field, that you can hear her from one end to the other.”