One for the record books

In early October, Lady Bulldog senior Haley Nicholson came out onto the pitch against Libby and in just 44 seconds nailed her first goal.

She would go on to net six goals en route to a 8-0 blowout win over the Loggers to close out the regular season. That Oct. 8 match on a rainy, cloudy day wasn’t unusual; Nicholson had already scored in similar numbers a few times during the season.

But the first goal was the big one — the one that broke the Montana High School Association girls record for most goals scored in a career. Nicholson scored 99 goals in her career with Whitefish. The previous record was 91 goals held by Heather Olson from Helena Capital from 1993 to 1996.

“It all came together and I actually started crying at halftime when they told me,” Nicholson said.

It was a record she’d been chasing for a long time, and the biggest question she’d gotten before the season was whether she’d break the century mark in goals scored. But trying too hard to score didn’t work well for her.

“It just becomes stressful,” she said. “If I try too hard to score a goal, I don’t score a goal. I just have to not think at all and kind of do it.”

Nicholson seems happy enough walking away with 99.

Breaking the scoring record was one of a few goals Nicholson discussed with head coach Roland Benedict before the season started. After leading Class A soccer with 31 goals scored in a season as a junior, Nicholson also wanted a repeat of the scoring title, which she did during the regular season with 27 goals.

Her No. 1 goal of winning the state championship, fell short. The Lady Bulldogs’ season ended in the first round of the playoff in an overtime thriller against Belgrade.

“Obviously that didn’t happen this year,” she said, “but that’s always the first goal.”

The last of her goals was to play collegiate soccer, a dream that was fulfilled when she recently committed to Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta.

“I’ve had a dream since fifth grade to play division one soccer and that’s been my goal ever since, so I’ve been working as hard as I could to get as many opportunities as possible,” she said. “I thought it would be fun to go on an adventure, so I chose Canada.”

Playing at the next level has always been a driving force for Nicholson. When she was 3 years old in Great Falls, her mother took up coaching so Nicholson could play on the 4-year-olds team. When she moved to Whitefish in second grade, she tried out for the 11-year-olds team and made the cut, though playing with the older girls was a bit intimidating at first.

“I was definitely a lot smaller,” she said, smiling. “They were all halfway through middle school and I was still in second grade.”

It was on these club teams growing up where she discovered her knack for scoring. She tried every position on the pitch over the years, but the game never felt right unless she had the chance to put points on the board.

“I just love scoring goals. I just figured I’m not as happy playing soccer if I’m not scoring goals, because it just makes it fall into place for me,” she said.

When she describes her scoring process, though, things seem more chaotic than peaceful.

“My first initial thought is always to score. There’s so many things that go through my head that I have to decipher. Do I kick it high or low? Where’s the goalie standing? Where’s she looking? Do I kick it hard, should I try a chipper, do I dribble in?” she said. “Sometimes, obviously, it doesn’t work, but sometimes it does.”

That process was made more difficult by the amount of attention she draws from the defense. In nearly every game, a defensive player on the other team became her shadow, following her every move to try and keep her away from the net. Sometimes there were two or three people marking her, and Nicholson remembers one match against Polson where she had to politely ask the defender to give her some room to talk to coach Benedict on the sideline.

With more eyes on her, however, there are more opportunities for the rest of the team’s talented scorers to take advantage of the defense.

“I have two or three people on me, that means two of my teammates have nobody on them, they’re open. So if I can learn to control that and get the ball to them then it’s the other team’s loss,” she said.

Along with soccer, Nicholson also participates in basketball, track and served as placekicker for the football team.

While she said she’s never felt burnt out from too much soccer, Nicholson said she thinks playing other sports is a perfect break.

“It gives me a refresher. When I’d do another sport, I’d get done and be ready for soccer,” she said.

Nicholson said she’s thinking about studying pre-medicine or physical therapy at college, which she became interested in after taking up the job of wrapping and taping the team’s ankles as a freshman on the soccer team.

While she chose Calgary to have an adventure, she’s also quick to note that she doesn’t want to stray too far from home.

“My parents have pretty much come to every game since I was 3 years old. I know they can’t get to every college game, but I want them to be able to get to some when they can,” she said.

And if you see her mom, Nanci, around town, Nicholson asks that you comfort her as her youngest kid leaves the nest.

“Give her a hug, because she’s already crying,” she said.