Naperville Central junior Malia Shen is always up for a new challenge.
Shen has played several positions during her three varsity seasons and excelled at each one. But in February, she finally met a challenge that stopped her in her tracks: mononucleosis.
“It was both a big physical and mental setback because I didn’t know how long it would take me to come back,” she said.
Shen knew Eli Jarrell, a standout for Naperville Central’s boys soccer team, missed much of last season with mono. She feared a similar fate.
But Shen ended up returning in three weeks. She missed the preseason and the first game.
“It was really nice that I got to come back as soon as I did,” she said. “During that time, I was just thinking about how much I missed it.
“As soon as I got back, I made sure to condition every day, and I really tried to get my endurance back first before anything.”
Shen is back and better than ever. Her willingness to play any position has been a boon for the Redhawks, who routed Minooka 4-0 in the opening game of the Naperville Invitational at Knoch Park in Naperville on Wednesday.
“Last year, she played forward and defense,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said. “This year, she’s played in the back and in the midfield.
“She sees the game. She understands when to make that run and when to make that sprint into space. She understands when to cross the ball and when to shoot it. So her decision-making is really good.”
Primarily a forward in the past, Shen is starting at outside back, part of a defense that has allowed just four goals for the Redhawks (10-1-1). But she hasn’t surrendered her attacking mindset.
“Last year, coach Adams put me at an outside back, and I was just doing anything to get as much playing time as I can and wherever I can help out the team,” Shen said. “That kind of stuck this year, and I’m loving playing outside back because it’s a balance. I can still get up the field if I want to, and I feel it can help the team.”
Shen did just that against Minooka (7-2-2), registering a goal and an assist to double her season totals in both categories. The Redhawks outshot the Indians 31-1 in a dominant performance despite missing sophomore forward Emerson Burke, who had the flu.
“She happens to be in the back, but to be honest, with the way we’re playing this year, our backs are forwards,” Adams said of Shen. “So they’re getting up the field, and while it’s an unnatural starting point, it’s a very natural finishing point for her.”
Shen had a fantastic finish with 2:45 left in the first half. Minooka tried to clear a Naperville Central corner kick, but Shen intercepted it and hammered a 30-yard shot under the crossbar for a 2-0 lead.
“I just saw the ball pop out,” she said. “I took a touch, and I had no one around me, so I decided to take a shot, and I was lucky that it went in.”
But did luck have anything to do with it?
“I actually knew she was going to score,” Naperville Central junior midfielder Nicole Smith said. “I stood up right when the ball wasn’t even to her yet and yelled, ‘Malia, Malia.’
“Right when she hit it, I knew it was going in.”
Naperville Central senior forward Callie Tumilty, an Ohio State commit playing her first season of high school soccer, scored twice to increase her team-leading goal total to 11. Both of her brilliant strikes were set up by passes from defenders.
The Redhawks have come to expect such all-around quality from Shen.
“She’s fast, she can get back, she’s aggressive winning the ball and she never gets beat,” Smith said. “She’s so good, wherever we throw her, she can play it.”
Shen is good with playing wherever, too, but versatility may not be her greatest strength.
“I think my strongest trait is probably my work ethic,” she said. “I try to work as hard as I can.
“Not everyone is going to have a good technical game every game. But you do the things you know you can control, like communication and work ethic, and then you’re good.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
