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Lendroth Kept East Haven Together Through Difficult Season

East Haven senior Megan Lendroth loves being out on the soccer field. From the moment she started playing 12 years ago, Megan has always found that the sport comes naturally for her. Megan was a defender throughout her youth, but switched between central midfield and defense during her high school career, and she became a better all-around player as a result.

“I play everywhere—wherever I’m needed. When [Head Coach Ray Curren] moved me to midfield, it helped me with my passing,” Megan says. “I’ve grown from my freshman year because, as a defender, I’d just kick the ball. Once he moved me, I had to learn to play to people’s feet.”

Curren knows that Megan’s versatility and leadership were crucial to he Yellowjackets. Megan and fellow senior captain AnnMarie DiNicola did everything they could to keep East Haven together while the team went through a winless season this fall.

“She went back and forth depending on what we needed. We had a back three last year, but she played back there a little bit due to an injury. We went back to four in the back this year with her and AnnMarie in the middle. They were solid back there together, but they were put in a tough spot this year,” says Curren. “They didn’t panic or scream at people. If you’re struggling, you don’t want to make it worse. You want to enjoy yourself. It’s high school sports. You don’t want to be miserable. They did a good job of holding it together and the team held through to the end of the year.”

Megan says she really liked being a team captain this season. Although she realizes 2016 was tough on the Yellowjackets coming off last year’s historic campaign, Megan enjoyed being a go-to person for her teammates.

“In the beginning, when we started losing our first couple of games, we felt bad. It was just hard this year after having such a great season. Last year, we’d just pass it to [Megan Kikosicki] and she’d take care of everything. It was hard, but we got through it together, and everyone just stayed positive, even after we’d lose,” she says. “I enjoyed captain because all the girls were really good to me. They didn’t give me any problems, even when we were losing. I enjoyed being able to lead our team and learned that the score isn’t everything. Before I was captain, I always thought I had to win. Even though we didn’t, as long as we played to the best of our ability, it was fine, and it would be OK at the end of the day.”

Playing as a junior last year made Megan like soccer even more as she relished competing for a club that made school history. The experience also gave Megan confidence for the winter season, when she plays basketball for the Yellowjackets.

“It helped me get prepared and made me feel comfortable,” says Megan. “I’m a center. Soccer gave me an advantage because I was already conditioned for the season. Then basketball helps me for soccer because it helped me with marking on defense.”

Coach Curren appreciates Megan’s strength on the defensive end and often relied on her to make crucial clears to get the Easties out of trouble.

“She’s really strong and the best header we had. On corner kicks, we’d stick her on the corner and she’d head it out every time,” says Curren. “She’s really strong physically and a lot of the things she did really fly under the radar. She worked hard, had a good attitude, and sometimes you lose sight of that. She was good to have around.”

Megan hasn’t closed the door on her soccer career and says that she’s keeping her options open to see what may be available in college.

“I plan to play soccer at the next level. I have a couple options, but nothing definite,” says Megan. “We haven’t made any commitments, but I’m really excited because I don’t want to give up the sport yet.”