Wolves top Pro Stars
Trinity Meinhart represents both the present and the future for the St. Catharines Club Roma Wolves women’s soccer program.
The 18-year-old native of Grand Island, N.Y. is one of the youngest players on the roster but is already in her second season with the team.
“She’s still very young and with coach Lucio (Ianiero) last year she developed a lot and is getting a lot of playing time,” Roma technical director of soccer Davide Massafra said.
Massafra coached Meinhart for several years with the Empire program out of Rochester and liked the speedy fullback enough to encourage her to tryout for League1.
“I figured she was would be a great asset for our program,” he said.
Meinhart, who red-shirted her freshman year at Niagara University last year where she is majoring in accounting, feels more at ease in her second season with the Wolves.
“It was a big jump from that level (Empire) to League1 and then playing at that level and then at Niagara, coming here this year I feel a lot stronger and confident,” she said.
Meinhart has been a starter for the Wolves this season and done well on both sides of the ball.
“Defending is the first responsibility and then obviously when you can, going forward and getting into the attack and making overlapping runs,” she said. “If I score, I score. I had a goal a few weeks ago but I feel like I get more of an adrenaline rush out of saving a goal than scoring a goal, if that makes sense, which makes sense for a defender.”
She feels speed is essential for a fullback.
“I think getting into the attack and then being able to get back too so your fitness level has to be high and speed-wise you have to be pretty fast,” she said.
Despite not playing last season with the Purple Eagles, Meinhart feels she still developed.
“We had a full roster so I had to red shirt but I still got to practice at a very high level and this year hopefully play,” she said.
Watching Meinhart evolve gives Massafra a great deal of satisfaction.
“When you see players develop and achieve their personal goals and help the club, that’s what you want. My success is to see players develop and be successful,” he said.
Meinhart, who indicated she wants to play at a high level for as long as possible, has high hopes for the Wolves in the second half of the season.
“I honestly think we’re a lot stronger than we were last year. I think the team is starting to gel together and I feel like we’ll have a lot more wins coming up.”
The Wolves improved to 4-7-2 with a 3-1 victory over ProStars FC Friday night at Club Roma.
Demi Maroudas, Maia MacLean and Arianna Zumpano scored for St. Catharines.
Annika Arsenault replied for the Pro Stars.
Pro Stars remain winless at 0-12-1.
The Wolves host Burlington FC Wednesday, June 28 at 8:45 p.m.
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