Central Bucks East senior Evan Vare earned NSCAA All-American honors and also was named NSCAA Pennsylvania Player of the Year.
By Mary Jane Souder
Evan Vare was, in a word, unstoppable.
The dangerous senior forward scored 42 goals and assisted on 13 others during a unparalleled season for a Central Bucks East squad that capped a perfect season with a PIAA Class AAA state title.
For his stellar performance during a record-breaking season, Vare, a two-time first team all-state selection, was named the NSCAA Pennsylvania Player of the Year and earned a spot on the prestigious NSCAA All-American squad.
“I knew he had the potential to be an extraordinary high school player,” East coach Mike Gorni said. “No one can tell you they can foresee – especially in terms of goal scoring – that somebody’s going to be that productive. There’s just no way.
“Even after his junior year – the thing I think is most impressive is that his stats went up each year in terms of goal scoring. The more attention he had around him – you would expect that you would be scoring less, and that just wasn’t the case.
“He just had a tremendous ability to finish even when he was garnering a lot of attention, and that made a big difference obviously.”
Vare grew up in a soccer family, the youngest of four brothers – all of whom played at CB East.
“When I was little and before I could play on a team, I always wanted to play with them,” Vare said. “They were rough on me, and that made me the player I am today. I got better from that.”
It wasn’t just the friendly rivalry with his brothers in the backyard that made Vare such a feared offensive weapon. He invested countless hours practicing his skills when no one was watching.
“Coach Gorni has been my coach since about fifth grade, and he always said – you have to go home and practice on your own when we’re not having practice,” Vare said. “When I was younger and even before coach Gorni, I just loved the game, and I would always go out in my backyard and just shoot shots for hours.
“It’s something I’ve always enjoyed. I don’t know – without that practice, I can’t say I would be here.”
Vare got his first taste of competitive soccer playing for Vereinigung Erzgebirge Club in Warminster, marking the beginning of a journey on the club circuit that included playing for FC Delco and Philadelphia Soccer Club before finding a home with Lehigh Valley United.
“He’s very committed,” Gorni said. “He trains hard, he plays hard, he’s extremely competitive, and he’s actually one of the players who has gotten better technically.
“There’s a skill to finishing and to scoring goals, and he does it, and he’s done it every single step of the way even with a lot of defensive attention. He’s really worked on his craft. He’s become a better technical player while he was developing his overall physicality and athleticism.”
Vare – who will continue his soccer career at Lafayette College - was the undisputed offensive catalyst of an East squad that rolled to an SOL Continental Conference crown, a District One AAA championship, a state title and 26 straight wins without a loss.
“It was awesome,” he said. “We knew at the beginning of the season we had the potential to go all the way and go 26-0. Coach told us it would be a lot of hard work, and we had to play every game equal as the other.
“Winning it senior year is just awesome. It was just a great team effort throughout the whole season.”
Vare contributed a goal and an assist in East’s 2-0 win over Seneca Valley in the state title game at Hershey to cap a perfect season. The only thing that remained were the postseason accolades for a player who re-wrote the record books at Central Bucks East.
“I think they mirror each other a ton – Evan would be the first one to tell you there’s no way he gets all of this individual recognition or stats if it wasn’t for his teammates,” Gorni said. “He’s a big part of that, and you have to take advantage of that, which he did.
“(He’s) walking out of high school being an NSCAA All-American. It’s a pretty huge honor and your team has won a state championship and you’re following it up by being named individually the Pennsylvania high school player of the year. Not a bad script.”
There were some sacrifices along the way. Weekend tournaments are the norm, and recently, Vare and his Lehigh Valley United teammates traveled to North Carolina to compete in the prestigious national tournament.
“We missed some school events that are a highlight of your senior year, we miss hanging out with friends, but it’s something I love and I’m willing to sacrifice anything,” Vare said. “Soccer will always be one of the most important things in my life. It’s worth it. It definitely is.”
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