Family ties accent Irish senior’s scoring record

Calum Latham becomes most prolific scorer in state history.

Catholic Central's Calum Latham scored five goals against Greeneview last Tuesday to set the unofficial state career scoring record with 173 goals. Staff photo by Barbara J. Perenic

Barbara Perenic Catholic Central's Calum Latham scored five goals against Greeneview last Tuesday to set the unofficial state career scoring record with 173 goals. Staff photo by Barbara J. Perenic

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By Michael Cooper, Staff Writer 11:18 PM Saturday, October 8, 2011

SPRINGFIELD — When her son Calum was a child, Mary Latham always thought he would be a goalkeeper.

“He was really a good little goalie when he’d play out back with the boys,” Mary said. “He had no fear of stopping those balls.”

Her prediction couldn’t have been further off — Calum is now the most prolific scorer in state history.

Last Tuesday, the Catholic Central High School senior scored five goals in a 7-0 victory over Greeneview, setting the Ohio High School Athletic Association unofficial record for career goals with 173. He passed Ken Willis, of Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, who scored 172 from 2001-04.

“When people say that number, I’m like ‘Wow, that’s a lot of goals,’ ” Calum said. “During the season, I don’t really think about it.”

On the record-setting goal, a throw-in landed at the feet of Anthony DeCarlo, who played the ball back to Latham. He beat two defenders, then popped the ball past the goalkeeper into the right corner.

The goal was just like any other goal he had scored in his career, and the record went unannounced at the game — exactly as it had gone all season.

“I’ve downplayed it a lot,” said Irish coach and Calum’s father, Shane Latham. “I haven’t mentioned it once all season.”

The record was a goal Calum had set for himself after his sophomore season. He entered the season ranked eighth on the career list with 139.

He scored 30 as a freshman, 52 in 2009 and 55 in 2010. He’s got 38 goals this season for the D-III sixth-ranked Irish (10-2-1).

“I thought it could be achievable,” said Calum, who’ll play at Xavier University next fall. “My teammates have helped me out so much over the last four years.”

“There’s a weight off my shoulders the rest of the season,” Calum said. “Now I’m trying to put it out of reach.”

Growing up

Calum grew up playing soccer in the backyard with many of his father’s future players, as well as his brother, Stefan, a 2008 Catholic Central graduate.

“They played in the basement in the winter, and obviously in our backyard where we’ve got two goals set up,” Shane said.

They grew up watching soccer on TV with Shane, a Wales native who brought his love the game to the states. The brothers also started playing club soccer at the age of 9.

“It’s really come naturally,” Mary said.

Growing up around high school, club and college programs as children helped them become better players.

“(Stefan and I) played soccer everywhere we went,” Calum said. “It helped out with my dad being coach, we were around Hallinean Field all the time. You see the games now and kids are still doing that. That’s what we grew up doing, going out at halftime and playing our own little game.”

Three of the top scorers in state history are from Clark County, and two of those players share the same last name.

Stefan, now a senior at Wittenberg University, scored 126 from 2008-10. He is tied for 12th.

Northwestern’s Dan Griest ranks third with 168 from 1994-97.

No talk

Earlier this season, someone asked Mary if the family had a list counting down Calum’s goals somewhere around the house.

Obviously, there wasn’t. No one in the Latham household talked about the record.

“As a mother, you just want them to be happy, healthy and enjoy what they’re doing,” Mary said. “I’m just happy if he leaves the field healthy.”

The goal didn’t seem entirely approachable until the end of last season.

“I figured with him having 139 after his junior year that it was a possibility,” Shane said. “It was the first time I really thought about it.”

Shane was proud of his son’s accomplishment, but said he won’t be able to celebrate it entirely until the season’s over.

“You’re happy when they do well, but you treat them as another player in practice and in games,” Shane said. “After his career’s over, I’ll be able to reflect on it more. It’s a difficult situation.”

Shane said the state scoring record is indicative of strength of schedule, but Calum scores consistently at every level, including with his club team, Crew Juniors. He was recently named to the ESPNRise.com Ohio Starting 11 list, and was one of just two D-III players on the list.

“Those are the kind of things that are more important to me than the scoring record because they’re totally objective,” Shane said.

The Irish have had a long-standing policy in which a player is allowed to score four goals in a game when an opponent is overmatched. Against a strong team, however, if a player can score six goals to help the team win, they can score six.

Calum’s feat was also accomplished with his opponents doing whatever it took to stop him.

“He’s been marked very heavily by almost every team this year,” Shane said. “He’s got a pretty good supporting cast there who creates opportunities for him. And if they’re going to mark (Calum) heavily, it creates opportunities for his other teammates.”

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