George Simmerman

Bedford North Lawrence coach George Simmerman has been telling his girls soccer squad, if they kept playing hard, they would start winning.

All the talk and patience paid off Thursday night as the Stars dismantled the visiting Monrovia Bulldogs, 6-2.

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"We passed as well as I've ever seen them pass, whether it's a game or practice," said Simmerman."We utilized our drop pass very well.The defense came up and we didn't have any holes in our field.I think they only got on our side of the field three times the entire first half.

"This is a second-year program (Monrovia) and they worked hard and they have improved over last year considerably.I want to congratulate them, because they have come a long way in one year.
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"We moved some people around and let them get a little experience in different positions," Simmerman said."Everybody was unselfish and made nice passes.Several times we had balls inside the 18 and we went ahead and passed instead of taking the shot, a lot of good, unselfish play.That's what builds good commradiere on the team."

BNL finished the game with 11 girls taking a shot on goal.

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"She had her best game of the year," said Simmerman."She's been ready to break out all year.She's had a lot of good opportunities, we haven't got her the ball in as many scoring positions as we would have liked to, but tonight she showed what she can do when she gets the ball in the 18.She can put it in the back of the net.

"She could have had probably three or four more goals.She was very unselfish and was one of them that had clear shots on goal and gave up a pass to one of our freshmen or sophomores trying to get them in the scoring column.
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"We played some girls that had not been getting a lot of time other than on the JV and they did an excellent job," said Simmerman."They continued to do the same things the varsity ladies did.They made good passes and looked for each other.Communication tonight was probably the best I've heard out there."

Monrovia broke the goose egg on its side off the scoreboard in the 60th minute with a breakaway goal from senior Terah Dillon.She scored the other Bulldog goal in the 70th minute to conclude the scoring for the night under a steady drizzle of rain.
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"That's going to be a really good match," Simmerman said."That gives us an idea of one of the sectional opponents that we could face.Hopefully we'll go up there and play very well.I think we have improved each of the last three games.Our passing and communication is improving each game, so hopefully we'll just continue with that and take that into Saturday's game."

The JV match is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. with the varsity to follow.

George Simmerman is set to add to what is already a widely diverse coaching resume this fall, as he has assumed duties as the head girls soccer coach at Bedford North Lawrence High School.

Simmerman served as an assistant alongside Randy Siepler last season, and has a vast amount of experience coaching both boys and girls in several sports at Bedford Junior High School, where he currently teaches.

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Prior to assisting Siepler last year, Simmerman had coached at the Bedford Girls Club for three years.
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Simmerman began conditioning for the Lady Stars June 11, and has been quite pleased with the turnout.

"We've been conditioning five days a week, two hours a day," he noted."We've had excellent attendance for the summer.We've averaged about 20 to 25 girls a day.We've just had real good participation."

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Simmerman has noticed a very receptive, positive attitude from his charges since he has taken over the program, and attributes that to the familiarity many of the athletes have with him not just as a coach, but as a teacher as well.

"I've had most of them in school, and they know me, so that's made the transition much easier for me as a first-year varsity coach," he noted."They know how hard my class was, and they know I'm going to have the same type of rules on the soccer field."

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