New Lawrence High soccer coach Joe Nemzer, left, introduces himself to a group of players at a news conference Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011 at LHS.

Joe Nemzer stood in front of a large group of Lawrence High girls interested in playing soccer Wednesday and told them that he wants to win games.

It was a statement new coaches usually make, but, given the Lions’ 4-12 record last season, it was a statement that meant something: Nemzer is not content with a long transition process.

He wants to win, and he wants to win in 2011. It’s one of the reasons he was named coach of the LHS girls soccer team. Athletic director Ron Commons interviewed two other candidates, but hired the 24-year-old Nemzer.

Nemzer speaks from experience. His high school team in Philadelphia was picked to finish last in the league when he was the senior goalie.

“We ended up turning our season around because we believed that we could,” Nemzer said.

As an assistant coach for the men’s and women’s soccer teams at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, he helped two more teams improve in just a season.

After going 2-10-4 in 2008, the men’s team in 2009 made it to the conference championship for the first time in 10 years. The women’s team made its first conference championship since 2003.

In his current assistant-coaching job with the Ottawa University women’s soccer team in 2010, Nemzer helped his team to a 15-3-2 record and the regular-season league title.

In short, Nemzer wants to turn around the Lawrence High program just like he has at both stops in his coaching career.

He will remain assistant coach at Ottawa. The Braves’ soccer season is in the fall, so other than occasional recruiting obligations, he will be able to dedicate the next three months solely to the Lions.

He doesn’t expect the transition to coaching high school soccer to be difficult.

“I’m going to treat this program like a college program as far as making sure the girls understand what their role in the formation (is),” Nemzer said.

Though he played goalie at Penn State Abington, Nemzer said his team will be attack-oriented, often playing in a 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 formation. That means preseason conditioning will be vital.

“The fitness style and the preseason intensity really pays off during the season,” Nemzer said.

Tryouts will begin Feb. 28.

“You write your own story,” Nemzer said. “The season’s a blank page. The story’s up to you.”