Center Grove senior defender Riley Williams is the Daily Journal’s Player of the Year in girls soccer.
Scott Roberson | Daily Journal
Though the anonymity that often comes with being an elite defender meshes nicely with Riley Williams’ soft-spoken personality, playing on the back line was never her first choice.
“I always wanted to play up,” she said. “Since I was little, I would always tell my club coaches, ‘Can I play up? I want to score.’ But then he just kept on putting me in back, because he needed me back. I just kept with it, and I just decided to let myself be a center back.”
The Center Grove senior has been a perfect fit in that spot. She earned first team All-District honors after serving as the keystone of a Trojan defense that posted eight shutouts and yielded just 12 goals all season long.
Williams is also the Daily Journal’s Player of the Year in girls soccer.
“Riley did more on defense than anybody ever,” recently retired Center Grove coach Mike Bishop said. “Fantastic defender. One of the best ones I’ve had the privilege of coaching, and I’ve had several.”
The down side of playing on the back line is that you’re seldom noticed unless something goes wrong. Much like an air traffic controller, it’s seldom a good thing when a defender is singled out.
Whenever someone is calling out Williams’ name on the field, she says, “it’s always something bad.”
And yet opposing coaches took note of who was preventing their top scorers from finding the goal. Williams’ teammates were also appreciative of the job that she did quarterbacking the defense.
Even if, by her own admission, her quiet demeanor got in the way of her ability to communicate at times.
“I’m the person that can see the whole field,” Williams said of her role as the Trojans’ defensive field general. “I do get in trouble sometimes because I don’t talk, but I feel like I got better by the end of the season.”
That end came earlier than Center Grove hoped, as the Trojans fell to Columbus North in a shootout during the semifinal round of the sectional.
Williams, who was next in line for penalty kicks had the Bull Dogs not clinched the victory after five rounds, had hoped for better.
“It was so sad,” she said. “I didn’t want that to be our last game at all; none of us did. I don’t think it should have ended that way, but we fought really hard.”
Though she’s not sure yet whether she wants to play collegiate soccer, Williams does plan to continue playing the game in some capacity; she’ll suit up for a club team if she’s not playing at school.
And while she’ll still have at least the occasional longing to play up on the front line and score some goals, she knows that she’s now been typecast as a defender — and she doesn’t mind.
“I know what I’m doing better back there,” Williams said.
