By Kim J. Harmon

In this little corner of the country, the excellence of the Newtown High School soccer program has been no secret.

The boys’ soccer team found national exposure the past couple of years with its consistent appearance on the NSCAA/adidas rankings alongside teams like St. Ignatius of Cleveland, Ohio and Cardinal Newman out of Santa Rosa, California.

The exposure became more widespread when Marcus Tracy was named to the PARADE Magazine All-American soccer team and was recruited by Wake Forest University as one of the top five collegiate freshmen in the country.

Well – the Newtown High School soccer program will remain in the national consciousness as Casey Frobey and Marc Doherty have both been named to their respective PARADE Magazine All-American soccer teams.

“It’s still kind of a shock,” said Frobey, 17, who will be playing soccer at Fairfield University next fall. “I never, never thought I would get something like this. I didn’t even know how to react when I was told about it.”

Frobey is the first female All-American to come out of Newtown and is believed to be the first ever to come out of the South-West Conference.

For Doherty, 17, it may be a surprise, but not much of a surprise after the senior midfielder – who will be playing at the University of South Florida next fall – was named All-New England the last two seasons.

“This is definitely good news,” he said. “Coach (Brian Neumeyer) called me said I made All-State and All-New England and then said I was All-American. I said … what? I had to call him back and ask him if that was right.”

There is no question that Frobey’s best season was 2004 when she scored 31 goals and assisted on 15 others and helped lead the Lady Nighthawks to a CIAC Class LL state championship. Even hampered by a shin injury in 2005, she remained one of the most dominating – and feared – forwards in the SWC. Head coach Rupert de los Reyes has been blessed with a cupboard brimming with great, young talent, but losing Frobey will leave behind a massive void.

“She leaves a legacy here at Newtown High School that will be remembered long after she is gone,” he said. “She finished her career with 57 goals and 43 assists, but those are just numbers. She will be most remembered for her demeanor and the way she carried herself on and off the field. She will be remembered for her ability to take over games and being the best clutch player in the history of this program. The bigger the game the more intense she was and the whole team picked on that. The most important trait in her arsenal of weapons was her courage and ability to deal with adversity. This was most evident in her senior year when she played with a stress fracture to her left shin all year, an injury that would sideline most mere mortals.”

Frobey said, “This was a nice ending considering the way things worked out this year. This is something you only dream about.”

She will be the first All-American recruit in the history of the Fairfield University program, according to coach de los Reyes, and the skills she acquired over the last four years at the high school and with her premier teams will serve her well.

“Casey is a product of all the good things that Newtown High School Soccer stands for,” said coach de los Reyes. “She has been a pleasure to coach over the last four years and in that time she has learned many things. She knows the value of commitment, responsibility and work ethic. She knows what it’s like to be a champion and a role model to the whole soccer community and for that I’m very proud of her.”

Coach Neumeyer himself has enjoyed an embarrassment of riches with the boys’ soccer program and hopes that the example Doherty set the last two seasons made an impression on the younger players.

“Marc does not have outstanding physical gifts, but ever since he was young he wanted to be a great soccer player and he has worked extremely hard at it,” said coach Neumeyer. “What Marc does on the field, through all that hard work, is attainable and should serve as an example to all the young soccer players in town.”

Doherty said, “I didn’t even think about being an All-American. All I was hoping to get was All-New England again.”

With a dynamic player like Marcus Tracy on the field last year and guys like Chris Hoagland and Brian Conroy dominating the offense this year, Doherty has often toiled in obscurity. But he opened eyes in the CIAC Class LL tournament last year and couldn’t avoid attracting national attention in 2005.

“This speaks to a body of work,” said coach Neumeyer. “Marc has been a great player at a top level program and being named All-New England twice and All-American is outstanding.”

And having three Newtown players named All-American in the last two years is simply amazing.