Olivia Foley’s nickname, fondly bestowed upon her by Munster coach Valerie Pflum, endures.
But the senior center midfielder has long outgrown “Spaghetti.”
Foley has always had the skill, starting for the Mustangs since her freshman season. The size and physicality took a little time to develop.
“Two years ago, as a sophomore, she would take these shots from far out and they were wimpy shots because she was all arms and legs — all the muscle hadn’t come in yet,” Pflum said. “So she took these spaghetti shots.”
But the 5-foot-10 Foley, a potential Division I prospect, hit a growth spurt between her freshman and sophomore years, sprouting five inches. Her strength followed as a junior.
Foley recounted a story involving senior central defender Jaycee Helmer, a Butler recruit.
“She’s one of my best friends, and we were joking I was as tall as her shoulder for the longest time,” Foley said. “Now I’m taller than her. That summer in between, I grew a lot.
“My freshman year, I was pretty short and pretty scrawny. I’ve been kind of filling out ever since.”
In workouts the summer before her freshman season, Foley initially lined up at central defender, her position in club. She quickly shifted to the midfield, settling into the spot where she since has become a stalwart.
“She’s both physical and finesse,” Pflum said of Foley. “She has her moves. We try to get the offense to move through her — she’s our distributor. But she’s also a big defensive standout.
“She’s great for the long shots. She’s great in the air because she’s so tall. Her physical game has come along. She got beaten up as a freshman, but that’s not Olivia anymore.”
Especially with the graduation of Saveda Majety, Foley has taken on a more offensive role this season in the midfield alignment for Munster, ranked No. 13 in Class 3A.
Foley had seven goals and five assists last season, when the Mustangs won their third straight Northwest Crossroads Conference title and second straight regional title, advancing to a semistate final against eventual state champion Penn.
She already had four goals through seven games this season.
“One of my strengths is reading the field,” Foley said. “I talk a lot and organize a lot. Some of the girls get a little nervous because I’m a different person on the field than off it, yelling and stuff.
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“But they know I’m just trying to help them, using my experience from playing a really long time.”
Foley could continue playing longer as she’s received interest from Villanova.
A straight-A student who takes Advanced Placement and honors classes, she has no intention of sacrificing academics. She’s considering majoring in chemistry with an eye on becoming a pediatric doctor/surgeon. She called Notre Dame one of her “dream schools.”
Pflum described Foley as a “genius.”
“She does a phenomenal job of balancing her academics, her extracurriculars and her athletics,” Pflum said. “Her academic ability shows on the soccer field.
“Her ability to read the game is really good, just explaining concepts to players, getting them to see what she’s seeing on the field. It’s definitely helping her as she runs the field this year as our offensive mid.”
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Top 10
Last week’s rank in parentheses.
1. Crown Point (1)
2. Munster (2)
3. Lake Central (3)
4. Chesterton (4)
5. Valparaiso (5)
6. Wheeler (6)
7. Highland (8)
8. Andrean (7)
9. Lowell (9)
10. Marquette (NR)
Player of the Week: Wheeler’s Lyric Green had two goals and an assist in Saturday’s 5-0 win over Highland, improving the Bearcats to 8-0.