Samantha Mendicino, soccer
Samantha Mendicino was captain of the Belle Vernon girls soccer team, but it was more than just an honorary title.
“She was a true leader of the team,” said BVA coach Paul Sasko. “She was a great teammate who was just fun to be around. She made soccer fun for everyone.”
Mendicino, who also plays basketball and runs track at BVA, has also compiled a 4.0 grade-point average and plans to study to become a teacher.
For all of the above, Mendicino was selected as the female fall sports honoree in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete Spotlight program. She is the daughter of Michael and Cheryl Mendicino of Belle Vernon.
“We had a really good season,” Mendicino said. “Won section and made it to the second round of the playoffs. It went as I thought it would. I would have preferred that we went a little further in the playoffs. But we all got along very well. We are all really good friends.”
The outside/midfielder scored 12 goals as a senior to bring her career total to 25 goals scored.
Her most memorable sports moment at Belle Vernon occurred back in her sophomore season, when she helped the Lady Leps end a long winning streak of South Park. According to Sasko, it was also a bit of redemption for Belle Vernon soccer.
“We had a 65-game section winning streak snapped with a loss to South Park the year before, when Sam was a freshman,” Sasko said. “South Park kept winning and a year later, they had a pretty long section winning streak. We beat them 1-0 and Sam had the winning goal for us.”
Mendicino was a three-year letterman and three-year starter at Belle Vernon who might end up playing college soccer.
She hopes to attend Ohio State, but has no vision of playing soccer in the Division I Big 10.
“Ohio State is my favorite, but I might go local for the first two years, then transfer to Ohio State,” she said. “My dad went there, but that’s not why I like it. It’s just really pretty and I like big schools.”
“She definitely could play at the next level,” Sasko said. “Division I is tough to play, but if she goes somewhere else, she could definitely play if she wants to.”
“If I stay more local, I’ll probably play,” Mendicino said. “At Ohio State, I don’t think I’d be able to do school work and play at the same time.”