They love Lucy: Tournament benefits family of stricken soccer player in Hampton

Calendars usually have the fourth Thursday of November circled prominently, but this year, Lucy Interthal had her sights set on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

“The last two weeks have been the best she’s been in six months,” her father, Dave, said. “And I’m sure this is the reason why.”

He and his wife, Beth, joined their daughter in attending the Love for Lucy 3v3 Soccer Tournament, held on the sunny morning and afternoon of Nov. 26 at Fridley Field in Hampton as a fundraiser on behalf of the Interthals.

Lucy, a soccer standout for the Talbots, missed her senior season after she was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder that causes weakness and requires frequent infusions of antibodies.

“She’s on a treatment plan now, and they’re looking into another one if she doesn’t see some additional improvement in the next couple of weeks,” her mother said. “But we’ve seen improvement in her already. I think even she has.”

The Love for Lucy Tournament featured three-on-three “small-sided” games, with the goals set up near each of the sidelines, allowing four contests to take place on the field at once.

“I played 3v3 when I was younger with some of my best friends,” Lucy said. “So when they said they were doing a 3v3, it was the best thing they could have done.”

The Hampton Girls Soccer Boosters organized the tournament, with Brigette Gibbons, who works in the high school athletic department, helping to coordinate and drumming up support.

“It got so much bigger than I was expecting (43 teams!),” she said in an email prior to the event. “It feels good to see everyone come together.”

Support came from around the region, including Shaler Area School District, where Beth Interthal teaches sixth-grade English language arts and her husband teaches seventh- and eighth-grade alternative education.

The families of two of her best soccer-playing friends, Montour High School’s Saveria Ulizzi and Mars Area’s Gwen Howell, sponsored a photo booth at the benefit, and Gwen’s team treated those in attendance to a hot chocolate bar.

The Mars Area girls also wore wristbands inscribed with Lucy’s No. 22 during their September game against Hampton.

As far as friends and neighbors in their township of residence, the Interthals couldn’t ask for more.

“Years ago, when we looked at where we were going to live, we picked Hampton. Here we are, and we’ve had such a great experience. Our children have grown up here. The teachers have been wonderful. The coaches have been wonderful,” Beth said. “Then this happens to our daughter, and all of a sudden, everyone is rallying around and helping and supporting her.”

In turn, Lucy has continued to provide as much support as possible for her Talbots.

“She was captain of the team, and she acted like it,” her father said. “She was there every game.”

And that was no matter what.

“There was one time that she actually went to the hospital after the playoff game, because she didn’t want to miss the game,” Beth Interthal said about Hampton playing Montour after reaching the WPIAL postseason for the seventh straight year. “She’s like, ‘I’ll go after the game. I’m not missing it.’ We thought, OK, then. We’ll wait. We’ll take you to the game.”

Next year, Lucy will attend Gettysburg College and hopes to resume her soccer career. In the meantime, she is grateful for her wealth of well-wishers.

“If I did not have the amount of support that I have now, it would be really hard,” she said. “Everyone says that I’m so positive about it, but it’s honestly because of them.”

For information about the tournament’s sponsors and donors, visit sites.google.com/view/love-for-lucy.