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01/03/2018 11:00 PMEver since her foot first touched a soccer ball, Erin Metcalfe believed she could lead a team if she dedicated herself to the sport. That aspiration came to fruition for Erin in her final year as a high school soccer player.
Erin recently completed her tenure as a senior captain midfielder for Westbrook girls’ soccer and went out on a high note by helping the Knights achieve something they hadn’t done in several years. Erin scored a team-leading 17 goals to go with seven assists on her way to garnering All-Shoreline Conference First Team honors and winning Westbrook’s Offensive Most Valuable Player Award. Along the way, she guided the Knights to their first appearance in the Class S State Tournament since 2009.
“Soccer is a sport that I noticed I wanted to excel at my entire life and be a leader in,” Erin says. “This year was amazing. We went into it with not many wins in the past years, but [Head Coach Rob McConville] had expectations for us. States was a huge accomplishment for us; everyone wanted it. It was great watching teammates develop throughout the year and to show that we could accomplish things here at Westbrook.”
While Erin saw some time at forward this fall, she primarily played midfielder for Westbrook. Erin likes how midfield is a pivotal position that required her to shift her attention to whatever the team needed at that particular moment.
“Forward was a little bit of an adjustment, but Coach McConville had high expectations for me there. He would comment on my speed, so he had little doubt I would be good there. My teammates also helped me there, as well,” says Erin, who also plays basketball and outdoor track for the Knights. “I love the midfield. It’s a position where I can control the entire field. I can set the team up well there and set the speed of the game. You also have to trust the people around you to help you. I can also step back and play defense if I’m not having my best game.”
For years, Erin dreamed of sitting in the captain’s chair. Once she stepped into the leadership role, she made the most of her opportunity by showing her teammates how to go the extra mile to help the squad.
“Being captain was very important to me, and I looked forward to it all through high school,” she says. “I wanted to push along our teammates and try to set examples by working hard and having a good attitude.”
McConville says that Erin features all the intangibles a coach looks for in an athlete. He adds that she has a knack for delivering goals when they matter most.
“Erin possesses all of the attributes that a coach wants in a player. Aside from the talent—the desire to get better, the ability to raise the level of play from her teammates, and leading by example are Erin’s strong suits,” says McConville. “Erin led the team in goals for her last two seasons. Among those goals were multiple hat trick games and important goals when the team needed them most. Erin was first at practice and last to leave. Her effort and work ethic demonstrated to the younger players what it takes to be successful on the playing field. Erin was the centerpiece in our offensive attack. We as coaches asked a lot of her this season, and she never let the task get the better of her. She managed to continue to work hard both for herself and the team as a whole. Erin was a pleasure to coach and is the type of player you cannot replace.”
Just as Erin has had a big influence on the Knights, she says that competing for Westbrook has made a huge difference in her life. Throughout the past few years, Erin has learned that, with the right combination of physical and mental effort, anything is possible.
“This team had a significant impact on me. We are a small school, but an advantage of that is that we become close to each other,” says Erin, who thanks her parents Beth and Chris, along with Coach McConville, girls’ basketball coach Kelly Landino, outdoor track coach Tim Marshall, and Athletic Director Teg Cosgriff. “It taught me that you can succeed at anything. It made me into a positive and upbeat person.”