Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes South Range junior Gabby Lamparty reacts after her game-winning goal against Crestview on Oct. 29 at Bo Rein Stadium in Niles.

As she was heading into her freshman year, South Range junior Gabby Lamparty saw it in a dream.

All-American.

While it never was a primary focus for Lamparty, that dream continued to linger in her mind over the years. Earlier this month, that dream became reality as Lamparty was named as an All-American by the United Soccer Coaches as one of 70 girls nationwide to receive the honor.

“I was shocked,” Lamparty said. “Honestly, there’s a lot of good players out there. I’m just blessed to be one of them and up there with the best in the country.”

What makes the season all the more special for Lamparty, is that it was her comeback season.

Early in the year last basketball season, Lamparty tore her ACL and was forced to miss the remainder of the season. Fortunately however, she recovered and was ready for action just in time for soccer season, a season in which she potted 32 goals.

“I just feel like winning this All-American was a sign of that, no matter what happens, it’s what you do after the fact,” Lamparty said. “I was injured and I came back. I had this amazing trainer Troy Parks, and he helped me get back to where I was and that’s where my success came from.”

Now, she’s ‘all in’ on soccer, qualifying to play for a travel team based out of the Cleveland area.

Her coach, Kelsey Malenic, upon hearing the news, almost cried tears of joy. The former Mount Union and Poland forward knows how big of a deal it is to not only be an all-state selection, but to be an All-American as well.

“I played soccer as well and just knowing how big of a deal this is, it almost made me tear up,” Malenic said. “I was so excited for her. I let her know and her dad know and they couldn’t be more proud. Especially getting it as a junior, that’s pretty big.”

Lamparty isn’t the only Raider to receive All-American honors. Both Lamparty and Camden Thomas, a member of the boys’ Raiders team got the nod this season, which is a big deal for a school district competing in Division III.

Not only that, it’s big for the Youngstown area, which is slowly growing stronger and stronger in soccer talent.

“It’s huge for the program and it’s huge for the area,” Malenic said. “Especially having both our kids from boys and girls programs, since we are a smaller school. It really does put our name out there but even just the Youngstown area in general because I don’t think we get a lot of recognition soccer-wise. It’s usually like the Cleveland area and Akron areas and they usually have the players up there that get all the recognition, but we’re starting to show that we have the same caliber around here as well.”

Around the same time Lamparty had that dream, the coaches were already excited about the player they were getting in the program.

“I remember when she was in eighth grade, there was already talk about her and how we were going to get this player,” Malenic said. “She’s great and this and that. Sure enough, she had an awesome freshman year, last year she did even better and this year, she did even better than that.

“She works her butt off. She comes to practice. She goes to strength training. After practice, I’ll drive past the school later in the night, and she’s there running bleachers. She’s working in the offseason and she’s done a great job. This offseason is going to be huge for her. She’ll be traveling all over the country with her club team, and competing at a level that people around this area just don’t get to see.

With one year left of high school, Lamparty hopes to keep up the successes of the last few years and just continue to grow. Between senior year and her time with her club team, Lamparty just wants to get her name out there and continue to play the game she loves.

“There’s a lot more competition and I just want it to push me to be the best player I can be for college,” Lamparty said.

“I’m just going to keep working hard day in and day out. I have some of the best coaches pushing me who know my goals. I’ve just been working towards it day in and day out and trying to make those dreams come true.”

byauger@tribtoday.com