CLARION, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Lexi Coull isn’t afraid to mix it up on the soccer pitch with the boys.
During the summers, Coull could be found battling with the Clarion-Limestone boys soccer team during their summer workouts.
Her older brother, Austin, would be right out there with them.
(Pictured above, Clarion senior striker Lexi Coull recently broke the single-season scoring record at the school/photo by Maria Tzanakakis Wilson)
“The boys are aggressive, which gets me to be more aggressive and be able to take a hit,” said Coull, a senior striker on the Clarion girls soccer team, which has a co-op with Clarion-Limestone. “They are a lot faster. My brother has experience, so he is able to give me insight on the game as he was a defender, so he can tell me how to play against the best defenders.”
Coull takes every advantage she can get.
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This season, it’s all paying off.
Coull has 30 goals and six assists in 12 matches for Clarion. The 30 goals is a school record.
It wasn’t something Coull set out to do. It just happened.
Clarion is a gifted offensive team with Coull and Alex Leadbetter filling up the net.
“That is crazy to me and such a blessing and accomplishment to achieve,” Coull said of the record. “It is definitely making my senior year on to remember.”
Coull has been putting toe to ball since she was four.
Also a basketball player at Clarion-Limestone, Coull developed a special affinity for soccer throughout the years as she improved her game, blending her speed and touch with the tenacity she developed playing with her older brother and the boys soccer teams.
“My drive and hustle for the ball is a strength,” Coull said. “My weakness is trying to take too much on by myself and putting pressure on myself a lot.”
Coull plays soccer much of the year. During the winter, even as she is shooting at another kind of net on the basketball court, she is still driving curling shots at a soccer goal during indoor season.
During the fall, she also plays, and in the summer months, gets out as much as she can to square off against her brother and the boys.
The ultimate goal is to play in college.
Coull has a few prospects.
“I (talked with) the past coaches at Clarion University, but they got a new coach, and I haven’t heard much yet,” she said.
For now, Coull’s focus is solely on helping the Bobcats win. Coull has helped put Clarion on the cusp of a playoff berth.
A victory on Thursday at Oil City and Clarion locks up a playoff berth. Then, anything is possible.
“I think we can make it far,” Coull said, “if we all hustle right out of the gate and come ready to work.”
Clarion Area High School sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.
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