Liza Pinette has been a soccer player for as long as she can remember.
“I started playing when I was four and I fell in love with it right away,” said Pinette, the Fairhaven senior forward who was named the 2022 Standard Times Girls Soccer Player of the Year. “I grew up in Saugus playing on the Wreck team.”
Though she led the Blue Devils in scoring in all four seasons for the national team, Pinnett isn’t about individual stats.
“I like being part of a team,” she said. “To be successful, it’s all about working with your teammates. My teammates and coaches have been great. They’ve helped me become a better player and a better person.”
Soccer has never been easy for Pinette, but she couldn’t have done it any other way.
“It takes a lot of effort to be a good player,” she said. “You have to have the skills to do the job, you have to have athleticism, you have to listen to your coaches and work hard every time you hit the field,” she said.
When she’s not playing for the Blue Devils, Pinette can be found competing at the Taunton-based Juventus Academy, a traveling team with ties to Boston.
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“I play all year round,” Pinette said. “I train at Juventus two days a week, participate in the occasional showcase tournament in the winter, and have weekend matches in the spring. takes
The hard work Pinnett has put into the game pays off as the Blue Devils (15-0-3) win the first ever South Coast Conference Gold Division Championship in school history, going undefeated. regular season.
“SCC is a highly competitive conference, so this was an amazing achievement for everyone,” said Pinette. “We grew up playing each other and were close to each other off the field, so we had great team chemistry together.”
Playing with balance, patience and confidence proved to be key for the Blue Devils.
“We played really good offense and played strong defense. It was a whole team effort all season,” Pinette said. Everyone put the team first and we all worked together to succeed.”
For second-year coach Arie Lima, having the opportunity to coach an accomplished player like Pinette was a dream come true.
“She was a great goalscorer, but she worked hard to move the ball around and create scoring chances for her teammates,” said Lima. “She distributed the ball really well and was a dangerous scorer who was good at getting the ball into the net around the net. She used her size and speed to fend off defenders and attack the net. She made everyone.She loved being part of a team.She always put the team first.
About Liza Pinette
Why she was chosen: He led the Blue Devils to the first-ever undefeated regular season and the first-ever South Coast Conference Gold Division Championship in school history. According to Lima, he was unanimously named the conference’s most valuable player.
Key stats: He led the SCC with 30 goals and also had 7 assists. An improvement over his 19 goals last season.
MVP Moments: Earlier in October, he scored two goals in a 4-1 victory over SCC visiting Aponecket on the grass at Alumni Stadium. The Lakers go on to win the SCC Blue Division Championship.
APONEQUET COACH ROBIN IRELAND: “Liza is a strong, strong ball player with great skill. She is a quality finisher who takes advantage of scoring opportunities and finds ways to get the ball into the net.”
Note: As a freshman, he competed as a sprinter (55m and 300m) for the Blue Devils’ track team before deciding to focus on football. … Continuing a football career and considering the University of Western New England with the possibility of majoring in pharmacy. … lives in Acushnet and has an older brother named Chase.
