H.S. girls’ soccer: Schreiber’s still the talk of the town in Lisbon

LISBON — Lisbon girls’ soccer coach Jake Gentle heard rumblings around town about the arrival of a new soccer player.

But he wasn’t getting too excited. At least, not at first.

Then he saw

for himself.

“The first five minutes, you could tell she was the best offensive player on the team,” Gentle said.

That was two years ago, when Schreiber was a sophomore. She was born in Lisbon but grew up — and learned to love soccer — in California. When she joined the Greyhounds that year, she made an immediate impact.

“She’s developed into an outstanding offensive player,” Gentle said. “Her ability to keep the ball close to her foot and go around people is tremendous. She’s improved a lot since her sophomore year, and her sophomore year, she was pretty good at it.”

Schreiber scored 11 goals her first year. Last year, she netted 21, with three assists. That was the third-best single season for any Greyhound. Ashley Beaulieu has the single-season record with 29 followed by Kayla Angelico with 25. Those two are the all-time scoring leaders for the girls’ program. Beaulieu finished with 57, while Angelico had 56. That leaves Schreiber 25 goals shy of the record.

“She could conceivably do it this year and she could do it in three years,” Gentle said. “The other girls took four years, and Kayla and Ashley were on the same team one year.”

Schreiber never imagined such success when she first arrived back in Lisbon as a sophomore. She was just concerned with meeting new people and fitting in. She knew the area well, but didn’t know a lot of people and had not played soccer here.

“I was really nervous,” Schreiber said. “I came off my club season out there. It was like in the middle of the season. I was pretty excited. I was in the soccer groove. I came out here, and I was so nervous my first day. Everyone was so friendly. I fit right in. Everyone was really helpful.”

Schreiber quickly felt at home and started making an impact. It was a different style and level of play, but she immediately became a playmaker on a Greyhound team that needed some offense.

“It was a little bit of an adjustment but it was adjusting in a good way,” Schreiber said. “It made me a better player, I think. It helped me a lot.”

The more Schreiber played and the more she worked with her teammates, the better she became. She doubled her goal scoring last year and earned an all-state selection.

“Between my sophomore and junior year, I improved a lot,” she said. “I was attacking the goal, and I was working with my teammates well. Every year, it gets easier to work with my teammates. We learn about each other more, and we learn to play off each other. I think it helps us succeed more.”

That may be the case this season. Schreiber won’t be any secret up front. Opposing teams will be keying on her, but the Greyhounds hope to have the offensive balance to counter that. Seniors Katheryn George and Kipri Steele and sophomore Emma Houle are all seasoned players up front that have learned to work well with Schreiber and have developed confidence in their own ability to make things happen.

“She’s definitely going to be the focal point of our offense,” Gentle said. “Other teams are going to know that, but we have a lot of girls, offensively, coming back from last year’s team. They’re going to be better at communicating with her and understand their roles and that they need to step up and score goals. I think the other girls are ready for that challenge.”

Schreiber says she’s so excited about the play of girls around her that she often finds herself just enjoying them play well.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Schreiber says. “Sometimes I catch myself watching if I’m up top and they pass the ball and it’s all really quick passed and everything and it looks pretty good.”

Schreiber’s personality may help her work with teammates as defenders key on her. Many go-to players get frustrated and taken out of their game when teams hold them in check and keep them off the scoreboard. Gentle says Schreiber really doesn’t care if she doesn’t score. She just wants to win and if she can help someone else score, that makes her just as happy. It’s all part of a team-first mentality that makes Schreiber such an asset.

“She’s really humble,” Gentle said. “She doesn’t act like she’s the best player at all. She’s just part of the team and wants to be part of the team. She loves being part of the program. She loves playing soccer. She really doesn’t have an ego. She’s great. She really fits in with the girls. She talks with the freshmen and tried to get them to understand what we’re doing as a team. She’s just a great kid.”

Schreiber says she’s looking to play in college but hasn’t decided where. She’s looking at some Division III schools. When asked about her goals for this coming season, she said nothing about herself. She focused on what the team might achieve. Lisbon went 8-4-2 but lost in a Western C preliminary last fall.

“I just want us to win and hopefully, we can make it farther in the playoffs than last year,” she said.

kmills@sunjournal.com