It’s a family affair

By Joe Mason
Times Sports Editor

It must run in the family.
Alicia McGinn is a junior on the Northeast High School girls soccer team. And because she’s the starting midfielder, she serves as the quarterback of the Vikings.
Pretty much like her brother did on the football team during the fall.
"He’s the best athlete in the family, and he was great during the fall," she said of her brother Charles, who was Northeast’s quarterback in their run to the Public League championship game earlier this school year. "I’ve been here for three years but he transferred last summer from (Archbishop) Ryan. It’s cool going to school with him."
It’s not the first time Alicia McGinn has accompanied a sibling to Northeast. In fact, when she was a freshman on the Vikings’ varsity soccer team, one of her mates was her sister Meagan.
"It was great because I was new on the team and she was the starting sweeper, so she helped me out a little," the youngest McGinn said. "In some ways it helped me adjust, and it’s always good to have someone you know around you. Just makes it a little easier."
This year, Alicia McGinn is making it look very easy.
In seven games thus far, the center-midfielder (meaning she has to play both defense and offense) leads the Vikings with 10 goals. She also has helped the team compile a record of 5-2, including three straight triumphs.
Success on the pitch is not new to McGinn or her teammates. Last season, they finished with eight wins and three losses. They also advanced to the Public League championship, before falling to an undefeated Central team in a shootout.
The game, which had ended in a scoreless tie, featured 80 minutes of regulation, two 10-minute overtime sessions and two five-minute extra periods. After neither team scored, it went to penalty kicks to determine the championship.
"That was pretty hard to lose that way, in a shootout, especially because we thought we played really well," McGinn said. "But Central was very good; they still are very good."
This year, one of the Vikings’ two losses was to the Lancers, a 1-0 defeat on opening day. The other loss was inflicted by George Washington, 2-1.
Those losses may not have stung as much as last season’s championship showdown with Central, but they still hurt.
And that might provide a little motivation.
"It might really help us that we lost twice, especially because both losses were early in the season," McGinn said. "I don’t think we were ever cocky, but in losing, I think that showed all of us that if we don’t play hard, if we don’t play our best, we’re not going to win.
"I don’t think we learned that (in the championship loss) because I think we played our best," she continued. "But we didn’t play our best when we lost this year. We could have played a lot better."
McGinn plays her best when she’s on the run.
Because of her position, she’s forced to disrupt the opposing team’s scoring opportunities, then hustle down to the offensive end and capitalize on scoring chances. But hustling isn’t a problem for the Viking.
She does it at school, on the field, and in her job at McDonald’s.
"I’m a cashier, I usually work about sixteen hours a week during soccer season," she said. "It’s a great job for a high school kid. I just go after soccer on Tuesdays and Thursdays and work a few hours.
"I don’t get a whole lot of sleep during soccer season, with work, school and soccer," she explained. "But I don’t mind. I like having the extra money and I like playing soccer, so I just do both."
But she’d be more than willing to take off a shift or two in June, say, for a Vikings championship game. A repeat appearance certainly isn’t guaranteed, but Northeast could ride their midfielder right back to the title game.
"Alicia has played great for us. She’s our leading scorer and she does a lot of good things," Northeast coach Bill Steinke said. "She’s really helping us pick up momentum, and we’re hoping she continues to play this way. She’s just a great kid to have on the team."
During her freshman year, McGinn played both basketball and field hockey at Northeast, but when her sophomore year rolled around, she decided to stick with soccer and ditch the other two sports.
Now she’s just focused on winning that title.
"This is it . . . we have good players, we’re really close and we want to get it this year," she said. "It’s tough, it’s a really balanced league, lots of schools have good players. But we know what it feels like to lose. Now we want to know what it feels like to win." ••
Sports editor Joe Mason can be reached at 215-354-3035 or jmason@phillynews.com