Highland’s close-knit seniors eye another soccer postseason run

Updated: October 3, 2011 7:09PM

What’s likely to be Kate Walker’s final season of competitive soccer has come and gone almost in a blink of the eye.

“I can’t even remember the first game,” the Highland senior defender said.

Senior midfielder Nikki Goodeve feels the same way.

“This is the fastest season by far,” she said. “I don’t even remember it.”

That temporary memory loss is probably just as well. The Trojans, coming off the program’s first regional title and third sectional championship in four seasons, hit some speed bumps early this fall as they adjusted to the loss of some talented seniors.

“I knew we were going to take some hits earlier in the season,” said Trojans coach Gordon Walker, who’s also Kate’s dad.

And that happened, with Crown Point scoring seven goals and Kankakee Valley getting four against Highland.

“After the Kankakee Valley game, we had a ‘talk to Jesus’ meeting, so to speak,” Gordon Walker said.

Since then, it’s been smooth sailing for the Trojans (10-3-1), who have 10 shutouts and are rolling into their own Class 2A sectional playing like the confident, veteran team they are.

The current seniors and last year’s graduates formed the nucleus of the group that has raised Highland into the elite of Northwest Indiana girls soccer, a status that was solidified by a 2-0 win over Chesterton a couple weeks ago.

It was a heady feeling last fall as the Trojans made their run to the semistate, and Goodeve would like nothing better than to ride that wave of emotion one more time.

“It was crazy last year,” she said. “It felt like the whole town of Highland was behind us all the way.”

Now the Trojans have their mojo back. They’ve completed the task of working some younger players into the mix with veterans such as Kate Walker and Goodeve, who’ve been playing together at the club level — with Gordon Walker as their coach — since they were 11.

That history has created some ties closer than those you’ll see on other teams. There’s the familial bond between the Walkers, of course.

“It really has been fun,” Gordon said of coaching his daughter. “The ironic thing about it, on my side of the family there’s never been any girls. If it wasn’t for soccer, I don’t know how I would have interacted with her.”

“I wouldn’t really change it,” Kate Walker said. “Even though it gets annoying at times,” she added jokingly. “He doesn’t give me any special treatment at all.”

The Walkers’ close relationship isn’t the only one in the Trojans’ program. There is also the chemistry that comes from growing up together in the sport.

“I’ve been playing with some of these girls since I was 3 or 4 years old,” Goodeve said. “(Moving on at the end of the season is) probably one of the hardest things I’m going to have to do.”

But before that happens, she’s hoping for one last batch of good memories. Ditto for Gordon Walker.

“I knew these kids were very special from when they were very young,” he said. “Their soccer IQ is very high (and) their work rate is second to none.”

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