Youth Soccer Month Spotlight: Lower Merion Soccer Club’s Daniel Lovitz finds his place with Montreal Impact
Once a State Cup and National League champion with Lower Merion Soccer Club, Daniel Lovitz is now thriving with the Montreal Impact (Photo courtesy of Montreal Impact) By Dillon Friday, Communications Manager, Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Nearly a decade after he last coached him, Miguel Nuila recalls the characteristic that defined Daniel Lovitz in his youth soccer days: joy. “I saw a documentary on (Christian) Pulisic recently, where they talked about how much fun he has,” says Nuila. “I can tell you that’s the one thing I can say for certainty about Danny: Danny loved to play for fun, and he had fun playing. That was his thing.” Nuila saw it when Lovitz was a winger for his Lower Merion Soccer Club Velez team in the mid- to late 2000’s. He sees it now as Lovitz has solidified the starting left back position for Montreal Impact. “All those years dribbling paid off,” Nuila says. “He’s found himself a nice niche.” In his days with Velez, Lovitz, a Wyndmoor native, was one of a group of talented youngsters. A natural left-footer, he primarily found time on the left wing, swinging in crosses and beating defenders to the outside. The rise of Lionel Messi changed that, however. Nuila saw the benefits of placing attackers on their “off” wings, where they could attack the middle of an opponent’s defense rather than the flank. Lovitz quickly thrived in this role.