Wakefield didn’t shy away from the challenge and it was the start of something special on the varsity level.
As an eighth grader, Wakefield scored four goals while playing as a midfielder on defense and had an astounding 103 takeaways.
“My biggest mindset in soccer, especially in defense, is I’m trying not to let anybody get past me,” Wakefield said. “In playing defensive midfielder, I was the person they shouldn’t get through. And if they got through, then the defensive line was supposed to get them.
“But I felt like my goal was to stop them. That way, the defensive line didn’t have to work as hard. That was my main job.”
She scored 17 goals in both of her freshman and sophomore years while still serving as more of a defender.
“In ninth grade she’s playing the same position and scores 17 goals from a defensive position,” Williams said. “We started letting her take free quicks. We thought, ‘She’s got a leg on her, let’s let her start taking some free kicks.’
“She scored some from free kicks, and on corner kicks we let her go up there because she wasn’t one who was afraid to barrel through somebody and get her head, foot, body part — something on the ball.
“She’s somebody that was not afraid to make something happen. Even as a defensive mid, she’s not afraid to go after a 50-50 ball because she has confidence in her abilities that she’s going to throw everything she can at them.”