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12/08/2016 11:00 PMNatalie Acquarulo grew up in a soccer household. Natalie’s father and sisters are all soccer fanatics and their interest only helped Natalie’s love of the sport grow. Natalie primarily played forward while growing up, but moved to center midfield during her sophomore year at North Haven, and has since found her home in that role.
“It flowed pretty well. As a forward, I was trying to score more goals. But as a midfielder, I was in the center of things and distributing the ball, so I had more assists,” says Natalie. “I saw myself more as a person that could distribute the ball better because I’m able to see the ball very well. I fell like my comprehension of the game is important and how I’m able to pass the ball to the outside for my teammates to get crosses in. My ball skills have also gotten much better over the years. I’m more confident and better at keeping the ball at my feet.”
As a senior this year, Natalie’s performance at center mid was one of the biggest factors behind the Indians returning to the Class L State Tournament. It was the first time the Indians made states during Natalie’s tenure with the team and she felt proud to help North Haven achieve that feat in her final season.
“In the past years, we never made it to states. It meant a lot to finally cap off my soccer career at states,” says Natalie. “Even though we didn’t make it far, it was the best we’ve ever done and made my season end in a great way.”
First-year Head Coach Rocco Christiana was thrilled to have a player of Natalie’s caliber as his attacking midfielder this season. North Haven had struggled on offense in recent years, but found the back of the net more often throughout the 2016 campaign.
“She was a very strong, crafty, and intelligent player. She was very dynamic and a dangerous player on the field. She’s such a generous player and was the heart and soul of our offense,” Christiana says. “It was the first time in about five years for North Haven soccer to make the State Tournament and she was a big part of us getting there with her consistent play all season long.”
Even though Natalie wasn’t one of North Haven’s captains, Coach Christiana says that she still did a great job of guiding the squad this fall. Natalie and her fellow seniors all brought some form of leadership to the pitch with the Indians in the recent campaign.
“All the seniors were good leaders to the rest of the team. It seemed like we all agreed and everyone looked up to us,” says Natalie. “It was really good to realize that, even though I wasn’t captain, everyone still looked up to me. That made me more confident on the field and created a stronger bond with my teammates.”
As an offensive-minded coach, Christiana felt that Natalie’s ability to maintain possession in the opponent’s zone played a huge role in the Indians turning things around this year.
“Having someone like her up there who holds the ball so well, sometimes the best defense is a great offense holding the ball on their end of the field. She kept us on that side of the field, which was a huge impact,” Christiana says. “She’s going to be very missed in North Haven. Her shoes will be very large to fill.”
Natalie says that she may continue her soccer career at the Division III or club level in college. Natalie has played tennis and outdoor track at North Haven in the spring, but this year, she plans on giving another sport a try by joining the Indians’ rugby club.
“Soccer has always been my No. 1 sport and I put my all into it, but I wanted to spread into other sports, too. I’ve always loved to play tennis and I wanted to try running, so I was a sprinter for track, which was fun,” says Natalie. “I just had the Nikh Bowl, which is our powderpuff game, and that was a lot of fun. Since rugby is a combination of football and soccer, I’m excited to try it out.”