Smith Scores Her 100th Goal
In the halls of The Pilgrim Academy walks the programs greatest scorer ever with little to no pomp. Addison Smith has reached a milestone that very few high school soccer players ever reach, scoring her 100th career goal during a 3-2 overtime win over Gloucester Christian. While she is the second 100 goal scorer in school history (the other is Megan Chambeau [Marienski] a 2012 TPA Grad who was in attendance to support Addison), she has achieved this feat faster than anyone else as she is only in her Junior year.
While most would boast in this kind of an accomplishment all the credit she gets is deflected to others. When Addison was asked for her thoughts on the achievement, she talked about others saying “The trust we have as a team and the bond we have is really cool. My teammates and coaches are very encouraging and have gotten me through a lot with soccer, and I will always be grateful for them.”
As leaders of the school commented on her accomplishment, Chris Storr (Head Administrator) said “she is quiet and humble, and always gives credit to others” and Charlie Baehner (Athletic Director) said “Addison is a joy to watch on the soccer field, she is a leader for Jesus, on and off the field and an incredibly gifted athlete that Pilgrim is privileged to have.”
Her coach, Sarah Marienski said, “it’s been an honor to have a front row seat to Addison growing as a soccer player since she was little to now having the honor of being her coach as she reaches this milestone. Addison plays with a calm, confident demeanor and in doing so she leads her teammates to do the same. She gives her talents back to the Lord and I know through this milestone she will give the glory back to Him. Her hard work, talent, and focus have gotten her to this point and I couldn’t be more proud of her.”
With the team trending toward another winning season, currently they sit at 10-1 this South Jersey squad is a force to be reckoned with as they finish this season and head into the postseason. With Addison and her surrounding cast of long time teammates this is a group of girls who trust one another are firing on all cylinders as the playoffs are fast approaching for both Tri-State and Nationals. After winning this past weekend’s Garden State Tournament and Addison winning co-MVP while posting 8 goals herself over the two days, they are looking to be the favorites heading into postseason play.
Addison’s teammates had many memories and kind words to share but one of them that stood out was Senior, Elaina Smith saying “The first game we played against Gloucester this year, we had to come back and she scored on a shot from the top of the 18-yard line and it rolled right past the goalie. It was the best thing ever, I just yelled in her face and tackled her!” Fellow Junior, Abby Baehner also commented by sharing about when they were in the recent Garden State Tournament in overtime saying “it was 3-3 and Addison hit in the cross from Bella, it won us the game. Afterwards we all went to her and then we dog piled on her, it was really fun and a great memory!”
Addison has been playing soccer for Pilgrim since her sixth grade year for the Junior High team and many of the connections made then are still strong to this day. One of her teammates said “we have known eachother since Preschool and we have been good friends ever since and have stayed really close. We played soccer for a travel team together, then we played Junior High together, and now on Varsity so we have been playing together a long time.” Genuine connections like the ones that are found on this team are hard to come by and are easy to see on the field in their preparation, play, and celebration.
As Addison has reached this big milestone she will now without a doubt be turning her attention to the games ahead as she prepares her and her team for what they hope will be a winning postseason.