LAFAYETTE – The loudest screams and cheers of the evening were reserved for Harrison senior midfielder Kaylee Metcalf during the IHSAA girls soccer Class 3A semifinals at Loeb Stadium.
Harrison had the night won already leading 7-0 at halftime but were hoping to get Metcalf some playing time. Maybe even a goal.
Her moment finally came in the 51st minute. She shielded off a defender and ripped a shot from five yards away to get her first goal of her career.
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“I’ve been playing with some of these girls for a really long time, some of them since I was six and seven years old,” Metcalf said. “They’ve been a part of my soccer career forever and I just wanted to have this moment with these girls before I graduate.”
Metcalf is known on her team for being a tenacious defender in practice and could probably start if she went to another school. Instead she has stuck around and enjoyed being a silent sharpener of the Raiders’ skills.
“Players like Metcalf are the ones that keep the energy going,” Harrison coach Amy Maxwell said. “Starters have to have someone to practice with and someone to compete with to push them outside. So they keep that energy going for the starters when they need rest, so they are just as important. They provide the same kind of role the starters do.”
But Metcalf in previous games hadn’t had much luck until Thursday night. When she played, it was mostly from a defensive standpoint and playing a containing roll while her forwards were near goal, taking shots.
Now it was Metcalf’s turn to scream, accept hugs and smack high-fives from her teammates.
“It was pure bliss,” Metcalf said. “All the hard work I’ve done in my 10 years finally paying off, knowing I was going to celebrate with the rest of my team. It was really special.”
One of the first people to celebrate Metcalf’s goal on the opposite side of the field was her lifelong friend, Harrison starting goalkeeper Ryane Clawson.
“I was going crazy,” Clawson said. “She wanted it so bad and I was so proud. She worked for it. She does a lot of things she doesn’t get recognized for. In the midfield there’s not too much stats and she does a lot of the dirty work. She cleans up balls for us, creates opportunities, she sees it all and does it all.”
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Metcalf’s goal was a reminder to Maxwell about what makes the high school sports experience vital.
“That’s what interscholastic athletics is for,” Maxwell said. “Everyone wants to put so much effort on winning trophies but what we are here for is character building. Making sure people feel like they are part of a team and giving them those special moments they can carry on within their lives. The trophies are great but moments like that are greater for me. When that moment happened, I had tears in my eyes.”
