Mooney senior Marisa Simon is All-American

By JOHN BASSETTI
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Marisa Simon may have found a fresh topic to augment her interest in English and writing.
In 500 words or less, describe your high school soccer high point. Without a doubt, "What It Means to be Chosen All-American" would be her No. 1 choice for the assignment.
For sure, her theme would be developed around dedication to hard work.
"The award is a combination of working hard all year and being able to play with the team I did," the Cardinal Mooney senior said. "That helped a lot. Usually, all the girls on the team were willing to practice whenever. They all really helped."
The All-America honor is awarded by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Honored in Philadelphia
Marisa and her family attended the All-America recognition banquet in Philadelphia Saturday. She was one of 75 players selected.
Her father, Alex, is Mooney's coach.
Marisa was recruited by Ohio State coach Lori Walker to play midfielder this fall. She'll be the Valley's first woman to play soccer at a Big Ten school.
At Mooney, Simon had 59 goals and a school-record 68 assists.
"My job was to feed forwards," she said of her center midfield position near fellow midfielder Colleen Hernan and forwards Kelly Burke and Kelli Willis.
"I played a lot off of those two," Simon said of her interaction with Burke and Willis.
All-around player
As with any player, Simon's offensive and defensive roles were nearly equal.
"I was supposed to be more offensive-minded, but, I usually ended up doing both anyway," she said.
Positioning herself to make a play was one of her strengths.
"My vision of the game and being able to read situations to play the ball helped," Simon said.
Physically, she had good foot skills and liked to challenge defenders while dribbling.
One of Simon's assignments, defensively, was clearing an opponent's corner kick from around the goal.
Her worst injuries were knee problems due to contact last season.
"I missed a practice or two twice, but it wasn't a big problem."
Four-year starter
Simon started almost every game since her freshman season. Mooney's record in that four-year span was 64-9-2.
"Our senior year was definitely our best," Marisa said of last fall's 16-3-1 record during the 2005 season which ended with a 2-1 regional semifinal loss to Bay Village.
It's the deepest Mooney has gone in postseason tournament play.
A few of her on-field highlights was against Bexley during the regular season.
"It was pretty memorable because they were highly ranked and they always have a good team," the 17-year-old said. "When we beat them, that was exciting."
A district championship victory over Champion was satisfying as were regular season and postseason wins over Ursuline.
"The first game was actually close, but the second time I played a lot better and we beat them," Simon said of her three goals.
Four-time All-SVC
Marisa, a two-time first-team All-Ohio selection and four-time All-Steel Valley Conference selection, has a 4.0 grade point average.
Playing for her father was special, but, at times, it was also stressful.
"It was not always easy, but I loved every minute of it. He was hard on me a lot, but he pretty much treated everyone the same. Even if he seemed a little harsh at times, I understood where he was coming from. If he was yelling, it was because he knew I could be doing better than I was."
Marisa said she was coached by her father since she was 5.
"That made playing all these years special. He always pushed me to be better, so that was a big help."
Alex Simon, owner of the Simon Roofing Co. and also a co-owner of the Valley Sports Complex, said that Marisa's honor is deserving.
"It not really surprising that she was picked. She's worked so hard at the game. She was always a leader of our team and continually tried to represent Cardinal Mooney well both on the field and in the classroom."
Brother at OSU
Marisa, whose older brother, Alex, is an Ohio State junior but doesn't play soccer, was exposed to OSU at a camp.
"I went to their camp when I was a sophomore. I really like it and the school and everything. When I found out I could play there, that kind of made my decision."
Marisa said that her father is stepping aside as coach at Mooney.
That would free him to watch Marisa in college.
Having a dad who owns a soccer complex may have played a part in Marisa's success, but a piece of real estate doesn't make for a complete package. It started at home with her brother.
"Alex started playing and I'd go watch games and I kind of started liking it. Then I started playing on my own and stayed with it. People thought I was just copying him. I probably did, but I ended up loving it."
The same motivation that got Marisa this far will have to work in college, too.
"It'll be a lot of hard work and a lot of time, but I'm ready to do it. I'm excited about it."
Accompanying her to Philadelphia was her father, mother, the former Tina McCormick, her brother and older sister, a student at Cleveland State.
The only other Valley soccer player to be named All-American was Kiki Willis, a former Mooney standout now at Elon (N.C.) College.
bassetti@vindy.com