The new girls basketball coach at Lake Catholic has some big shoes to fill.
Steve Eppich was named the new coach on Wednesday. He is replacing 18-year head coach Frank Soria who resigned last week.
Eppich is a 2001 Lake Catholic graduate who was a standout basketball player for the Cougars. He is the all-time leading boys scorer in school history. He continued his basketball career at Division II Wheeling Jesuit.
Eppich's experiences will be key in helping him take over at Lake.
Afterall, he is replacing a legend.
Soria, who resigned to spend more time with his family, led the Cougars to a 23-3 record this winter. They won the North Coast League Blue Division title, a Division II district championship and lost in the regional championship to eventual state champion Hathaway Brown.
In his career, Soria led the Cougars to a state runner-up championship, two regional titles and four district championships.
He's built a winning program at Lake that continues to grow.
It will be Eppich's responsiblity to keep that tradition alive.
Since he's been a part of the boys program, that shouldn't be a problem. The pieces are in place and it will be interesting to see how far Eppich will be able to take the program.

-Theresa Neuhoff Audia