Nicole Smith barely said a word after being elevated to Naperville Central’s varsity team midway through her freshman season.
Two years later, that’s no longer the case.
“I was really quiet my freshman year,” Smith said. “Sophomore year, I finally gained some confidence. I knew I had to be talkative.
“Now I’m very, very bossy, telling people where they need to be on the field.”
That’s a good thing for the Redhawks, who rely on the junior midfielder for guidance and grit.
“I think she’s one of our most valuable players,” Naperville Central senior forward Emma Russell said. “She works really hard on and off the ball.
“She makes sure that we’re being held accountable. On the bench, even before a game, she just gets us really hyped up, and she talks a lot on the field. I don’t think we have a lot of that, so we hear her a lot.”
The message is clear: Smith wants the Redhawks to do whatever it takes to win, and she’s willing to lead by example. Naperville Central coach Troy Adams calls Smith an “old-school” player.
“She’s got that mentality of ‘Everything is mine. I’m going to do whatever I can do to win,’” Adams said. “She’s willing to sacrifice her body, go in and tackle hard, and also has the discipline to stay back and be in the space that we need her to be rather than going forward. So that’s a huge plus.”
The Redhawks (7-1-1), who won a Class 3A sectional title last season, have their deepest team ever. The roster is filled with veteran and versatile players, especially on offense, and a wealth of young talent on defense.
Smith fills a vital role as a defensive-minded midfielder who is adept at winning balls in the air and never losing her composure.
“With her being disciplined and winning those 50-50 balls, we can take some chances with players going forward because we know where Nicole is going to be and we know what she’s going to do,” Adams said. “She really allows a lot of the other players to be a little bit more offensive-minded.
“I’ve seen a huge jump in her technical ability, the ability to distribute along with the soccer IQ of understanding when to release, when to dribble, how to turn with the ball.”
Smith also understands that she isn’t going to win every challenge and knows what to do when she doesn’t.
“If I lose the ball, which I do often and that’s normal, I get back and I get the ball right away,” Smith said. “And I’m very good at reading other players, so if I know they’re going to be slower than me, then maybe I’ll play tighter on them.
“Or if I know that they’re going to be faster than me, then I’ll hold off just a little bit so I can be more patient on the ball.”
Smith’s reliability allows Naperville Central’s offensive players such as Russell, senior forwards Callie Tumilty and Bella Brozek and senior midfielder Rebecca Ruggiero to be aggressive without worrying about giving up counterattacks. On Saturday, Russell scored twice during the Redhawks’ 3-0 nonconference win against visiting St. Charles North, which beat them in a 3A supersectional last year.
Yet Smith has the ability to score too. She tallied her first goal of the season on a 25-yard rocket late in Naperville Central’s 2-1 loss to Neuqua Valley on April 8.
“She can do what she needs to do in order to help us,” Adams said. “That game we were down, so she came forward to create a goal for us.
“She does a lot of the things that won’t show up on a stat sheet. If you don’t have a couple of players like her, you’re never going to be able to be as successful as you want to be.”
Which is why Smith should not go unnoticed.
“I do think she gets looked down because she’s not an attacking player and she’s not really a defending player,” Russell said. “She’s kind of in the middle. But she’s the reason we get up the field or we get back down the field. All of her effort is what helps us be the team that we are.”
Which is a squad with state championship aspirations. While the offense garners headlines, Naperville Central’s defense has allowed just four goals.
“Our forwards are scoring and getting all the credit, but if we’re getting shutouts, that’s all due to our defense,” Smith said. “I don’t want anyone to score on me.
“That’s the mindset. We are not letting in any goals.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
