Mercy star Tempert is ‘going to be hard to stop’
Forward driven to complete memorable senior year
Mercy soccer star Ada Clare Tempert isn’t that interested in talking about all the goals she has scored.
The staggering sum — 26 last year and 60 in her first three years — is not important to her. And while the All-Metro senior forward is appreciative of the individual accolades that have come with them, they are secondary, too.
She insists more goes into her goals than her own sensational work, crediting her teammates for getting her the ball and Mercy forward Ada Clare Tempert, right, scrimmaging against Hereford, has 60 goals in her first three varsity seasons. coaches for preparing her to succeed. Each one has a greater purpose.
“The way I look at it, for me, I don’t care if I score — it’s more how my team is doing,” she said. “I want to win; that’s my mindset. It’s not that I need to score or be the best. It’s
more I need to contribute what I can to make it possible for our team to win.”
The fact remains that the Magic, who reached the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship game last season, are at their best when Tempert is scoring. That happens often.
She is relentless when attacking, explosive with or without the ball, and can finish with a heavy strike or precise placement.
The metro area is stacked with talented goal scorers this season — Wilde Lake senior Julianna Bonner, Sparrows Point senior Julie Lynch, Hereford sophomore Payton Patrick and River Hill senior Brigette Wang all finished with 20 or more last season — and Tempert’s consistency has put her at atop the list.
“Ada is so competitive and hates to lose. She just doesn’t stop working on the field,” Mercy coach Doug Pryor said. “She has a nose for the goal and there’s not many girls that have that. She gets a rush to score, and battles and fights and scraps. We have a chance every game because she’s always a threat to score, and it’s going to be hard to stop that girl this season.”
Tempert started playing soccer when she was 4 years old, but she didn’t play forward until she started club ball when she was 15. She proved a quick study.
Just how did she become such a tenacious goal scorer so quickly?
A look back to her childhood provides a clue.
Her drive and fierce competitiveness started when she would bug her older brother to let her play basketball with him and his friends.
During recess in grade school, she would play football with the boys and come home to a familiar question from her mom: How did you get your pants so dirty?
While also playing basketball and lacrosse at Mercy, soccer has always been her constant. Committed to play at Loyola Maryland, she works two jobs and maintains good grades. Any given week can be a grind, but she says, “when I play soccer, that’s my happiness.”
“My life is soccer — it’s what I love. That’s what I enjoy, so I’m going to make the most out of it as much I can until I can’t do it anymore.”
The Magic made a terrific run in last year’s playoffs, knocking off John Carroll in the quarterfinals and upsetting defending league champion Archbishop Spalding in the semifinals. As underdogs in the title game, they gave McDonogh all it could handle before the Eagles scored a goal in the final minutes for a 1-0 win.
Despite the loss, Tempert left the field fulfilled.
“Yes, winning is always the best feeling, but that was my last moment with some of my best friends that were seniors and that’s a moment I can remember forever,” she said. “Yeah, we may have not won, but I made the best memories I could off of something that didn’t quite go our way.”
The Magic are primed for another run this season. The team also will look to Adrianna Gunther and Paulina Jordan for offense with goalie Alivia McDermott the leader in back.
It all starts with Tempert, a captain who also finished with 10 assists last season.
“She definitely brings a level of intensity that nobody else brings on the team, which causes everybody else to really step up their game,” junior Claire Geier said.
For the last season, to the joy of opposing coaches, schemes will be designed to try to stop Tempert.
“She combines pure athleticism with an incredible work rate, which is very difficult to defend,” McDonogh coach Harry Canellakis said. “My feeling is she can beat any single defender in the league. So, as a coach setting up a game plan against her, you just have to make sure that none of your defenders are matched up against her without cover or support.” Mercy’s Ada Clare Tempert is committed to play soccer at Loyola Maryland. “My life is soccer — it’s what I love,” she said.
While winning a championship would be the ultimate achievement for Tempert, there’s much more to her final high school season.
“Last year, we did get really, really close and we always have that in the back of our heads — to keep pushing through,” she said. “But also to enjoy every practice we have — not just worry about the games — that’s what this is about. We’re supposed to be having fun, so that’s what I’m excited for — make the most of every moment.” he would be counted on by the Vikings, who graduated four-year midfielder Johnny Linsenmeyer. The first hint came when he was the only junior to be named a captain. He responded with a 13-goal, 10-assist season and looks to build on it as a senior.
With Broccolino playing alongside fellow senior midfielder Sebastian Tobar, someone he’s shared the field with since they were 11 years old, the Vikings can expect to win the middle of the field regularly.
Broccolino relies on words he has often heard from Mount Hebron coach Mike Linsenmeyer.
“I just follow his guidance and he always preaches to be at the right place at the right time,” Broccolino said. “That’s pretty much what I did [last season] and I was able to make plays.”
Other gifted midfielders to keep an eye on this season include River Hill’s Justin Harris, Meade’s Tosin Ayokunle, Calvert Hall’s Ben Bender, Centennial’s Matt Merkey, Eastern Tech’s Isaac Ngobu and Broadneck’s Louie Kerdock.