By Julie Cline, For The Herald Bulletin
ANDERSON — What started as an intra-team rivalry turned into a record-breaking season for Anderson Highland junior Marissa Goodwin. Not only did her competitive streak with recent Highland soccer graduate Ashlan Allison help propel her into a scoring star, it was the catalyst for the Lady Scots’ berth in the sectional championship game this season.
“This season was definitely better for me for a lot of reasons,” Good win said. “We had a great team and really worked hard together. I had the team to back me up, and that helped me out individually.”
Goodwin, who is the all-time leading scorer in Highland girls soccer and the Herald Bulletin’s girls soccer player of the year, has made personal and team history this year. The Lady Scots made it further than ever before, and to Goodwin that means more than any record ever could.
“This season meant a lot to me. Going that far in sectionals, farther than we have before, was a good experience,” Goodwin said. “Winning against Anderson in penalty kicks and then playing Yorktown in the championship game was great. I wished our regular-season record could be better, but for us to go as far as we did is just great.”
Although Goodwin’s talent was making headlines this year, her skill is nothing new. Goodwin, who has been playing since she was 4 years old, is a three-sport athlete and a devoted competitor. Right now, she is playing basketball for Highland, and in the spring she will be running track to stay in shape. As if playing a sport every season was not enough to keep her busy, Goodwin also is playing in a local soccer league.
“I am playing at Just 4 Kicks on a team with some of the guys from the guys team. It’s a faster paced game, so it’s really going to help,” Goodwin said. “I also am going to try to get in the gym with my coaches and work on my dribbling. I want to start doing some weight training to keep up my strength.”
Though her rigorous athletic schedule could be easily credited for her success this year, Goodwin attributes it to someone else.
“I could not have done this well without God,” Goodwin said. “He gave me the strength to play.”
Strength is something Goodwin has possessed in her years on a soccer team that did not always bring home the results she wanted.
“Our team this year wasn’t as good as the team last year, but we toughed it out and made it to the final round of sectionals,” Goodwin said. “No other Highland team has done that. We had a great team this year that worked well together and have great coaches.”
Goodwin attributes the team’s success to its strong defense and fast offense.
“Our defense this year is very physical and is mainly seniors who really know what they’re doing,” Goodwin said. “So when they got the ball up, we were able to take the ball up the field and score.”
Goodwin did a lot of scoring this year, netting 10 goals, which brought her career total to 22 and broke Allison’s all-time scoring record of 18. Goodwin only plans on adding more.
“Ashlan and I had always been competitive,” Goodwin said. “We were always competitive about goals and helping each other in games to get goals. So when she broke the record it meant a lot to her, but I just wanted to work harder to break it. And now I just want to add to it next year.”
