Allie Rossino enjoyed a good deal of success playing youth soccer.

She loved the sport and imagined herself eventually playing it at the high school level.But a magical season altered her future plans.As a sixth-grader, Rossino faithfully followed Lehighton's 2009 run to the PIAA Class AA field hockey state championship. That incredible journey won her over.Rossino had a new love.Soccer's loss was field hockey's gain.It turned out to be a great decision for both Rossino and the Lehighton field hockey program.Rossino recently capped her four-year varsity career with an outstanding season, leading Lehighton in both goals and assists. Her performance earned her the 2015 Times News Field Hockey Player of the Year Award.Not bad for someone who at one point thought she would be playing soccer during the fall sports season."I followed the team during their state championship season. That's when I started to think about playing field hockey," Rossino said. "My cousin Jordyn Homyak was on the team and I guess watching her and seeing the excitement the team generated in the entire community got me hooked."One person who was glad Rossino got hooked was first-year Indian field hockey coach Karen Wall."Allie was an incredible student-athlete to work with," Wall said. "I was an assistant here for the last couple years before taking over as head coach so I've been around her throughout her career. Allie worked hard, played hard and was an outstanding leader."Rossino finished this season with 10 goals and seven assists. Those numbers helped Lehighton rebound from a disappointing 2014 season during which it won just four games.This season, the Indians had a 10-9-1 record and beat Catasauqua in the opening round of the District 11 Class AA playoffs before eventually falling to Moravian Academy in the semifinals."Lehighton has always been considered a powerhouse in field hockey," Rossino said. "So having a losing record last year was really disappointing."The entire team dedicated itself to turning that around. With this being my senior year, I wanted to do everything in my power to make sure I was helping the team accomplish that goal."Rossino said in addition to improving her field hockey skills, she worked on her strength, speed and conditioning during the offseason.Wall said the improvements were noticeable."Allie had a really nice career, but this year was special," Wall said. "Everything seemed to click for her. Not only did she lead us offensively, but she was a great role model for our younger players."Rossino fell in love with the Lehighton field hockey team during what will probably go down as the "golden era" in the program's history. The 2009 state championship was followed by an appearance in the state final in 2010. Those teams produced dozens of wins, several championships and a number of Division I college players.Those type of achievements might never be matched again.But Rossino knows if Lehighton is going to get back to that level, the program needed a jump start.She hopes this season provided it."The seniors on this team knew the history here and knew that we didn't want to leave at a low point," Rossino said. "We wanted to leave with the program moving forward, and I think we did that."I'm proud of this team and what we accomplished. No one ever likes to lose in the playoffs, but after where we were the year before, reaching the district semifinals was an impressive accomplishment."Something else that is an impressive accomplishment is being named Field Hockey Player of the Year, especially for someone who originally wanted to be a soccer player.