Purnell Swett’s Josie McLean (6) takes a shot and scores during an April 4 game against Lumberton. McLean was named Robeson County Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.
                                 Chris Stiles | The Robesonian

Purnell Swett’s Josie McLean (6) takes a shot and scores during an April 4 game against Lumberton. McLean was named Robeson County Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Chris Stiles | The Robesonian

PEMBROKE — What does a player do after an award-winning freshman season?

Get better in her sophomore season and win the award again.

Purnell Swett forward Josie McLean won Robeson County Player of the Year last season as a freshman — and got that much better this spring, earning her Player of the Year honors from the Robesonian for the second consecutive season.

“It means a lot (to win it back-to-back),” McLean said. “I’m glad to be able to be chosen, and I’m happy that we could do it again and have a better record this year; that helped a lot too.”

After scoring 22 goals with 11 assists as a freshman, McLean upped the scoring output by 50% in her second varsity season, finding the net 33 times this spring, while once again adding 11 assists.

“It’s well-earned once again,” Purnell Swett coach Alaric Strickland said. “She’s worked on every aspect of her game, and she just keeps trying to get better and better each and every year. That’s all you can ask of a player, and she just wants to strive to do her best.”

What exactly did McLean do to improve her game? While the number of goals saw a tangible increase, Strickland said, it’s because of her play off the ball.

“Just her movement off the ball got better, meaning she tried to be more open to receive passes and be a better target to her teammates,” Strickland said. “That’s something she’s still trying to improve on; her runs off defenders and trying to be a better target, that’s what’s improved for her.”

Playing club soccer with Fayetteville Force through the offseason was a big factor in the improvement, McLean said.

“I think something that helped me improve — I joined a new team in the fall and I was playing with Fayetteville Force, and playing with Coach Todd (Abbey), he helped me improve, and playing with girls who have been playing a little bit longer that might have helped me a lot,” McLean said.

Purnell Swett finished 13-8-1 overall and 8-6 in the United-8 Conference; the Rams narrowly missed the 4A state playoffs.

The Rams’ core is a group of sophomores, five of which earned All-County recognition this season.

“It’s good that we have a good sophomore group,” McLean said. “I think we’re able to get along better as a team because we’re the same age and we’re doing it together, and having that sophomore group, it’s fun to play with your friends, and I feel like if you’re friends off the field you’re able to have good chemistry on the field as well.”

And while she’s not a vocal person, McLean provides leadership for that group in plenty of other ways with her play on the field.

“She doesn’t speak out; she just lets her play speak for itself,” Strickland said. “That’s her way of letting the other ones know how hard she’s working and how hard she wants them to work. She’s not very vocal, she just lets her play speak for itself.”

The way she strives constantly to improve is part of that leadership, too.

“Nothing seems to bother her, and that’s all you ask for is her just striving to be the best she can be,” Strickland said. “When she comes up asking ‘what more can I do,’ that’s what you want to just keep hearing from her; she’s taking strides to get better and better. She’s not satisfied, and that’s a good thing.”

Already a two-time Robeson County Player of the Year, McLean still has two years of high school soccer to go. Her biggest goal is simply to continue the improvement she’s shown this year and become even better for her team as an upperclassman.

“For me, I just want to get better as we go and get better as a team, be a leader for the team, because next year I’ll be coming in as an upperclassmen, so maybe I can be a better mentor coming in, because I had good mentors as a freshman. And I just want to improve and have better stats than I did for the past two seasons.”

Sports editor Chris Stiles can be reached at 910-816-1977 or by email at [email protected]. You can follow him on Twitter at @StilesOnSports.