Wadsworth has more goals in mind at Weddington

When Maggie Wadsworth started her soccer career, at 7 years old, her coaches weren’t sure exactly where on the field to play her.

Wadsworth recalls playing defense at first, but she quickly figured out that wasn’t her ideal position.

When she shifted to forward, the future Weddington High standout discovered her passion for her scoring goals.

“I remember even back then, my goal was to score at least one goal in every game, and that is what drove me,” Wadsworth, 17, said. “There’s a lot more to my game now, but I’ve always been able to score goals to help my teams. If you are a forward, you’ve got to be focused on scoring goals. That’s the nature of the position.”

While Wadsworth, a junior, isn’t the biggest forward – at 5-foot-3 – or the fastest, she knows how to be in the right place at the right time. Weddington coach Powell Williams said Wadsworth’s knack for scoring is something that can’t be coached.

“Maggie is a very underestimated player a lot of times because of her size, but she just has that knack for scoring goals,” said Williams, in his eighth season as the Warriors’ coach. “She has quick release and can shoot from any angle with either foot. She’s also a very off-tempo player who is deceptively fast, who always puts herself at the right place at the right time. That’s not a coincidence, it’s a skill that she has developed.”

While Wadsworth has been putting goals into the net since her Little League days, she has blossomed in the past three seasons at Weddington, where she has scored 74 times in less than three complete seasons.

She also is one of the leading scorers for her club team, Charlotte Soccer Academy’s ECNL U18 squad.

Wadsworth’s sophomore season at Weddington was a breakout campaign, as she notched a Charlotte-area-best 31 goals, earning 3A all-state, all-region and all-conference honors.

Wadsworth had seven multigoal games last year, including a career-best five goals against Charlotte Country Day and eight goals in six playoff games.

This season she has 20 goals and nine assists her team’s first 14 games, leading her team in both categories. She also is a dynamic playmaker, with 44 career assists, including 24 last year.

“It feels equally as good to get an assist, or even better at times, because I have so many talented teammates,” Wadsworth said. “I feel like I see the field very well. As I’ve gotten more attention (defensively), I think it’s made me a better player, because I have to make quicker decisions, move off the ball and be able to find open teammates.”

“The most impressive thing about Maggie is that she keeps getting better,” Williams said. “She is coming off two great seasons and it hasn’t given her a big head. She still plays within herself.”

While Wadsworth plays a lead role, her Weddington team is loaded with talent.

Joining Wadsworth on an attack that averages more than four goals per game are good friend and classmate Emily Hilliard (four goals, nine assists), sophomore Olivia Odle (eight goals, eight assists) and freshman forward Kayleigh Van Gundy(seven goals, six assists).

“It’s a lot of fun playing with so many great offensive players in such (an) aggressive offensive,” Wadsworth said. “Coach Williams yells at us if we pass back because he always wants us going forward, attacking.”

The Weddington defense – with sophomore defenders Gabby Cormier, Cyan Mercer and Remi Roberts, and junior goalkeeper Taylor Schuster (eight shutouts) – has been stifling, giving up just nine goals in 14 games this season.

Those numbers have helped Weddington (11-1-2, 8-1 through April 29), the reigning 3A state runner-up, spend most of the season as the No. 1 3A team in the state.

However, Weddington currently is No. 2 in the state after losing its first game at Cuthbertson 3-2 on April 24 when the Cavaliers (No. 5 in the state) scored a late goal to get the victory.

“We don’t ever want to lose a game, but I think for this team that loss might be a good thing because we haven’t had that feeling in a long time,” said Wadsworth. “The loss reminded us how we felt last year in the state championship and we don’t ever want to feel that way again. I believe that is going to be driving force for us the rest of the year.”

“Our mentality starting now and into the playoffs, we have to win every game,” she said. “We can’t have a bad game, because we expect to be playing for a state championship and win it all this time.”

Wadsworth committed to play at Lehigh University on April 19.

“I was crying when I made the decision to commit to Lehigh,” said Wadsworth, who carries a 4.55 GPA. “I wanted to go to a great school first, but I can’t imagine my life without soccer. Soccer is just a part of what I do every day.

“Now I’m going to get to go to my No. 1 school and play soccer. It’s a dream come true, and I know not everybody gets that kind of opportunity.”

This story was originally published May 1, 2015 at 12:19 PM with the headline "Wadsworth has more goals in mind at Weddington."