There are soccer players who score goals for their team, and then there are players who are pure goal scorers. Greene junior Paige Wilcox is the embodiment of the latter.
Wilcox sees openings where other players do not, and she finds a way to score when, seemingly, nothing is available. Wilcox’s coach, Brandy Stone, described one typical scenario:
“A lot of the time, she will receive the ball with her back toward the goal,” Stone said. “She has to turn, beat the person in front of her, and then weave through two or three more kids. She gets into the box and just finishes.”
Or this:
“There are times I see within an area at least five defenders in front of (Paige),” Stone said. “Somehow, the ball remains attached to her foot, and she manages to get through there. We’ve heard comments from players on other teams. I think they are amazed with what she is able to do with the ball.”
Last week, Wilcox reached a Greene milestone scoring five goals against Walton to reach 100 for her career. She is the third 100-goal scorer in Greene history, and the only one to do so in just three seasons. Her career output – 103 goals – has her three shy of Alex Driscoll’s all-time school mark, so it’s just a matter of time before Wilcox becomes the all-time scorer at her school. For that matter, she may likely be Chenango County’s all-time leading goal scorer.
The Trojans, in large part due to Wilcox’s prolific production, reached 10 wins on the season last week, and the Greene standout is our choice this week at Matthews Ford/Planet Preowned Norwich Athlete of the Week.
When Wilcox joined the Greene varsity team as a freshman, it wasn’t long before she was drawing the attention of opposing defenses. Now, the defensive strategy against Greene is boilerplate: Mark up Wilcox wherever she goes.
“Paige has come over to the sideline to talk to me or get a drink, and there is a player from the other team close by,” Stone said. “Teams have broken with their defensive formation just to mark Paige up.”
Janelle Ross, coach of Unadilla Valley, has seen Wilcox as much as anyone. Ross’ clubs have occasionally had the upper hand on Wilcox and Greene, but it’s never come easy. “She’s wicked fast, and her instincts for the game are top-notch,” Ross said. “She’s so calm and collected on the field, and you never see her off her game. She waits, she works, and as soon as she has an opportunity, she takes advantage and finishes. She’s just a very good player – one of the best.”
In a victory over UV last week, Wilcox scored all three of her team’s goals, the last with 4:30 remaining in a comeback win over Ross’ troops. Earlier that week, Wilcox helped her club to its third win this season over Oxford. Blackhawks coach Heather Pizza went to extreme measures to contain Wilcox, but all it did was slow her down – a little.
“If you have someone playing her man-to-man, she still finds a way to break through,” Pizza said. “We started to double-team her on defense, and she was still able to score two goals. She has a sense of anticipation that few soccer players her age seem to have.”
Wilcox has 37 of the Trojans’ 42 goals this season, or nearly 90 percent of her team’s offensive production. That said, she is far from a selfish player, and Stone says none of her teammates harbor any resentment toward their star scorer.
“I think her teammates realize how talented (Paige) is and that she really does work for everything,” Stone said. “The thing is, Paige is a great passer and she sends a lot of great passes to her teammates. They know that the attention she receives is well deserved, and that she is there trying to help them, too. I haven’t seen any resentment from her teammates, and I think they are happy for her. They understand that it is really a benefit to the team having her there.”