Naperville Central freshman Malia Shen had no preconceived notions heading into soccer tryouts.
“I didn’t really expect anything going in,” Shen said. “From the beginning, I just tried my hardest and let the coach pick what (level) he thought was best for me.”
It didn’t take long for Naperville Central coach Troy Adams to figure out what to do with Shen. The 5-foot-3 forward was one of two freshmen to make the varsity roster along with goalkeeper Erin Hackett.
“The two traits that kind of stood out were how hard she worked and how passionate she was about wanting to accomplish her goals,” Adams said. “Her work rate is unbelievable.
“I honestly think she’d run through a brick wall if it meant scoring a goal.”
Shen didn’t encounter any brick walls — proverbial or otherwise — during the Redhawks’ season opener Wednesday. But she did lots of running, some of which led to her first career goal, and that turned out to be the game winner as host Naperville Central beat Burlington Central 2-1 at Memorial Stadium.
Shen’s strike came with 10:23 remaining in the second half. Another varsity rookie, sophomore forward Isabella Brozek, received a pass in the left side of the box and quickly found Shen streaking in behind her defender. Shen’s tap-in broke a 1-1 tie.
“It was a great pass to me, first off, which definitely helped,” Brozek said. “The girl was coming in fast, so I just tapped it back, and Malia was wide open behind the girl to finish it.”
Shen wasn’t in the starting lineup but showed great hustle when coming off the bench. She and Brozek are two members of a new generation of attacking players for the Redhawks.
“It felt really good,” Shen said. “All the older kids definitely helped me to get this goal, and Bella’s pass was amazing, so our whole team contributed to this really well.”
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That teamwork, especially up front, is what Adams, who led Naperville Central’s boys team to the state championship last fall and is in his first season guiding the girls program, wants to see.
“We’ve got a lot of new players, and we’ve got some players that are playing different positions than they have in the past, so it’s not unexpected that we’re going to have patches where it looks a little disheveled,” Adams said. “That’s the reality of the early season.
“The second half I thought the forwards especially were much better about their spacing, about where to run, looking to connect to each other. If we can have forwards finding forwards, we’re going to be in good shape.”
Indeed, after mustering only two shots during an uneventful first half, the Redhawks outshot Burlington Central 13-3 after halftime.
Freshman goalkeeper Mackenzie Lorkowski made seven saves, including sensational stops on Brozek and Northwestern-bound star midfielder Megan Norkett, for the Rockets.
But Norkett broke the ice when she beat Lorkowski with a perfectly placed, left-footed shot from 19 yards out that went inside the right post with 21:55 to go.
The Rockets struck back when Eva Samuelian ripped a 30-yard free kick under the crossbar at the 19:18 mark. It was their final scoring chance of the game.
“That was a beautiful goal,” Shen said. “I think it’s good that our team came together after their goal. We came back even stronger and harder, so having a victory in the first game is really good.”
Based on what she’s shown so far, Shen could prove to be really good.
“She works hard every practice,” Brozek said. “She gets to everything. Even if it’s obvious that it’s going to go out, she still tries her best, and that’s all you can ask for. I have no complaints.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.