Wheaton North’s Moreno jumps
on scene as a scoring machine
By Chris Walker
Olivia Moreno is into goals.
She sets them. She meets them. She scores them.
“I’m always setting goals for myself,” the Wheaton North sophomore said. “Going into high school I set a goal of making varsity my first year and that happened, which was pretty crazy, and I had so much fun.”
Once she earned a roster spot last spring, she directed her attention to what she does best – score goals.
“Last year’s goal was to score as many goals as I could, which I tried my best,” she said. “Hopefully I can play soccer in college some day. That’s one of my bigger goals, so I’m putting work in for highlight videos and stuff.”
Unfortunately, during a spring where it appeared there would be plenty of notable highlights for the Falcons, there isn’t going to be any soccer at all in 2020. So, while the ambitions remain, the seemingly always in motion Moreno has been (temporarily) stopped.
“It was super disappointing not being able to play because we were so excited going in,” she said. “We knew that with so many people returning and a lot of good chemistry, and even though we didn’t have the record we felt that we should’ve had (last year), especially with all the close games, that we could prove ourselves this year.”
While Moreno’s arrival and quick ascent in the Wheaton North program has been a great story to watch unfold, it also serves as a reminder that a student-athlete’s time on the high school scene is brief, even for those fortunate to become elite three- and four-year starters.
“I got lucky in the sense of only being a sophomore and having two more years, so I have a decent amount of time left,” she said. “But a lot of the older people, like the seniors, I don’t think if you told them last year that when we ended it was going to be their last high school game, they could’ve even imagined it. I feel worst for the seniors. I’ve tried not to be so sad about this, because I don’t want to take the spotlight away from the seniors who deserve it.”
That spotlight is going to be on Moreno when soccer does return to Wheaton North as the young forward jumped on the scene in 2019, leading the Falcons with 15 goals. That included her three-goal effort in a 3-1 victory over North Shore Country Day on April 13 in the PepsiCo Showdown.
“It was such a great game, and we played really well as a team,” she said. “That was the game I hit double digits in goals for the season. And not only that, I got a hat-trick that game. We all played very well that game and that was a game where the score reflected it as well.”
Unfortunately, there weren’t nearly as many of such games for the Falcons after that one. That’s not the whole story though either. Final scores didn’t reflect what transpired over the course of 80 minutes of soccer in many of Wheaton North’s games. The Falcons finished 8-14-1, but they were only a handful of plays, bounces or breaks away from being 14-8-1 as they struggled with a 2-11-1 mark in games decided by a single goal or less. They just didn’t win the tight games, but they were competitive all season long. They were close.
Ideally, the players who they had returning learned from those losses as well as many of the others elements of the game that transpire over the course of each one, as well as disciplines covered in practices. Each athlete is different in that regard just like personalities. In Moreno’s case, she’s the kind of kid that utilizes the opportunity to learn from her mistakes, ultimately becoming an even better player.
“Honestly, one of my favorite parts of the game is fixing your mistakes,” she said. “You can’t go back and change your decision, but you can improve for the next time you do it. If I’m not as a fast as the center back, I better do something else next time. I love reading the players throughout the game. Identifying strengths and weaknesses is super fun, ‘Oh I’ll beat her with this move, every time.’”
Lie around complacently and you’ll never get ahead. Moreno recognizes that, especially for someone who zips around the field, challenging opponents with her blazing speed.
“They tell me that I’m pretty fast down the sidelines so physically I’d say I’m fast,” she said. “I’ve got fast feet. So when I get the ball, I’m quick with my decisions and small touches. As a forward you have to have control of the ball going down the sides 1-v.-1 against defenses.”
Complimenting that speed is strong vision of the entire field that’s improved in the past year. The Falcons would’ve been something to watch in motion with Moreno possibly even better than she was a year ago.
With her, along with senior Riley Wincker and junior Kayla Shebar among the key returning offensive threats, as well as solid players in the midfield led by sophomore Claudia Kim and seniors Camille Cote and Payten Yates, this was an impressive-looking group.
“I was told by my club coaches that I’ve improved on seeing the field and in recognizing the pass before it happens and knowing where I want the ball before I receive it or hand it off to teammates.”
Fellow sophomore Claudia Kim has been playing with Moreno for about six years and the two have become great friends. It certainly helps that the two are both exceptional talents as Kim also made the varsity squad as a freshman last year and was expected to play a big role this spring.
“I absolutely love playing with Olivia, and we just clicked from the beginning,” Kim said. “She’s a trustworthy player, and I know that she can take care of the ball and will fight to keep it.”
Kim has seen Moreno finish countless times, so she’s certainly trying to get the ball to her.
“We know where to look for each other on the field, and we know where the other wants us to be,” Kim said. “Also, as an offensive center mid, I’m always looking for a forward. Olivia knows where to position herself on the field for that pass.
“I don’t know what’s going on in her head but she seems calm and collected while playing on the field and doesn’t let the pressure get to her.”
Wheaton North coach Tim McEvilly has coached a handful of tremendous scoring talents during his 20-year tenure at the school, players like Jaime Orwiler and Lexi Pelafas, but they don’t come around too often. He saw right away that Moreno had the potential to be something special.
“I had seen her in the summer camps and in the preseason, and what we do with open gym in the fall, and then we do some things indoors,” he said. “It’s not a ton of stuff, but between the camps and the 10 times or so between I saw a kid who always seemed to score goals.”
While McEvilly may have been a bit skeptical of her goal-scoring prowess at that time, because Moreno wasn’t doing it under the lights or the pressure of a DuKane Conference game, that was put to rest as she continued to bury shot after shot.
“Once we had tryouts in the spring of 2019, all she did was keep on scoring,” he said. “Every single competition she was just scoring, and I was like, ‘Gosh, she doesn’t stop scoring goals.’
“She just has a kind of drive, an instinct to get the goal, to get behind defenders. It’s unique to see. And (Kayla) Shebar has that drive, but in over 20 years I haven’t had more than a handful of kids that played that way. They play to get behind and beat people, and it’s fun to see.”
As McEvilly has witnessed first-hand for a long time now that pure goal scorers like Moreno are a rare breed, and some of their finest attributes are innate.
“First off, you can coach individual kids to recognize situations where they need to do a better job of challenging defenses in 1-v.-1 situations,” he said. “In the grand scheme of things, you can’t place those instincts inside of player where before the ball gets to them they’re diagramming two or three ways to beat the first defender and then the defender after them.
“You can try to foster some things, but generally if they’re not born with them, they’re not there. That’s why it’s special to see what they’re able to do to make a difference.”
Being the go-to girl while being a part of team can also be tricky, McEvilly said. And if you become that kind of player right off the bat as an underclassman, that in itself can be another challenge.
“Especially with female athletes you have to be careful to tell them you want them to be the difference-maker because females are a part of a sports program because a lot of them want to be a part of a team,” McEvilly said.
“Sometimes they struggle with standing out in the clear when they’re the one their depending on; not because of fear or they can’t do it, but by comparison of how it makes the other girls feel.
“There’s the whole own mental battle there of being able to play with confidence and recognize there’s no insult to someone else because of what you are.”
There’s no denying that Moreno can be, and wants to be, the kid coach Tim McEvilly can count on when the Falcons really need a goal.
“McEvilly tells me that he’s been trying for so many years to have that player who can get you a goal when you need a goal,” she said. “That’s what he’s looking for from his forwards so that has always been my mindset here.
“I’m a goal scorer so I need to score as often as I can and get as many shots as I can. I’m going to look for opportunities, and if I don’t have to do it, I’m going to look at something else, other options.”
Despite that mindset, she still’s making key decisions in fractions of seconds, leaving no time to be wasted. And it can be the deal breaker between netting game-winners or game-tying goals, misfiring or distributing and setting up a teammate with a better chance of doing it.
“Honestly the hardest part of the game is the decision making,” she said. “But you learn from you’re mistakes and keep going. You can’t get stuck on the what ifs. I think that’s why it’s so important as a player to recognize your strengths and weaknesses.
“One of my strengths is going 1-v.-1 and shooting and assisting. Sometimes it’s passing, and I try to be accurate but I know I can improve on that. Recognizing (your abilities) is super important to apply to help your team.”
And while most shots aren’t going to end in celebration, Moreno is going to fight and fight until she gets one to go in rather than sulk about a potential missed opportunity. She may be only 5-foot-1 but she’s a giant when it comes to attacking.
“She’s always looking for opportunities to score, and she’ll fight until the very end of the play,” Kim said. “Or until the ball ends up in the back of the net.”
Despite the high school season-ending blow, Moreno remains optimistic and not just about returning to playing soccer, but to life in general. Some of that is instilled at home where her mother, Jennifer, is really enjoying spending time with her three daughters constantly under the same roof, with junior Zoe, a volleyball player at Wheaton North, and younger sister, Marlowe, who will graduate from elementary school soon.
“My mom is always happy now because all her girls are home,” Olivia Moreno said. “So she loves getting to hang out with us all day and that has been nice. And if I wasn’t doing this and if I didn’t have soccer, I’d be hanging out with friends. That’s usually what I’m doing when I’m not busy with soccer.”
She expects soccer to hopefully resume for her this summer with her club team. If that doesn’t happen, she’ll remain positive that it’ll eventually return, and she’ll welcome it when it does.
“Why waste so much time being a pessimist,” she questioned. “Oh my gosh, these countdowns until it’s over. At least we can go outside. We have the ability to communicate with friends and family. We should be thankful for the things we do have.”
Although she’s worked as a babysitter and refereed youth soccer games through the Wheaton Park District, Moreno is excited about her first customer service gig with Kimmer’s Ice Cream, which is certainly a hot spot during the summer months, especially when kids are active with soccer, softball, lacrosse and baseball leagues. Those too have been suspended for the time being while Moreno doesn’t know when she’ll even start working.
“I’m excited about it but I haven’t been able to start training yet,” she said. “All of this is crazy. I don’t feel like I’m a sophomore. I just got into high school and now it’s almost my junior year. This whole experience with the pandemic, I hope everyone comes out with a new sense of gratitude to everything.”
on scene as a scoring machine
By Chris Walker
Olivia Moreno is into goals.
She sets them. She meets them. She scores them.
“I’m always setting goals for myself,” the Wheaton North sophomore said. “Going into high school I set a goal of making varsity my first year and that happened, which was pretty crazy, and I had so much fun.”
Once she earned a roster spot last spring, she directed her attention to what she does best – score goals.
“Last year’s goal was to score as many goals as I could, which I tried my best,” she said. “Hopefully I can play soccer in college some day. That’s one of my bigger goals, so I’m putting work in for highlight videos and stuff.”
Unfortunately, during a spring where it appeared there would be plenty of notable highlights for the Falcons, there isn’t going to be any soccer at all in 2020. So, while the ambitions remain, the seemingly always in motion Moreno has been (temporarily) stopped.
“It was super disappointing not being able to play because we were so excited going in,” she said. “We knew that with so many people returning and a lot of good chemistry, and even though we didn’t have the record we felt that we should’ve had (last year), especially with all the close games, that we could prove ourselves this year.”
While Moreno’s arrival and quick ascent in the Wheaton North program has been a great story to watch unfold, it also serves as a reminder that a student-athlete’s time on the high school scene is brief, even for those fortunate to become elite three- and four-year starters.
“I got lucky in the sense of only being a sophomore and having two more years, so I have a decent amount of time left,” she said. “But a lot of the older people, like the seniors, I don’t think if you told them last year that when we ended it was going to be their last high school game, they could’ve even imagined it. I feel worst for the seniors. I’ve tried not to be so sad about this, because I don’t want to take the spotlight away from the seniors who deserve it.”
That spotlight is going to be on Moreno when soccer does return to Wheaton North as the young forward jumped on the scene in 2019, leading the Falcons with 15 goals. That included her three-goal effort in a 3-1 victory over North Shore Country Day on April 13 in the PepsiCo Showdown.
“It was such a great game, and we played really well as a team,” she said. “That was the game I hit double digits in goals for the season. And not only that, I got a hat-trick that game. We all played very well that game and that was a game where the score reflected it as well.”
Unfortunately, there weren’t nearly as many of such games for the Falcons after that one. That’s not the whole story though either. Final scores didn’t reflect what transpired over the course of 80 minutes of soccer in many of Wheaton North’s games. The Falcons finished 8-14-1, but they were only a handful of plays, bounces or breaks away from being 14-8-1 as they struggled with a 2-11-1 mark in games decided by a single goal or less. They just didn’t win the tight games, but they were competitive all season long. They were close.
Ideally, the players who they had returning learned from those losses as well as many of the others elements of the game that transpire over the course of each one, as well as disciplines covered in practices. Each athlete is different in that regard just like personalities. In Moreno’s case, she’s the kind of kid that utilizes the opportunity to learn from her mistakes, ultimately becoming an even better player.
“Honestly, one of my favorite parts of the game is fixing your mistakes,” she said. “You can’t go back and change your decision, but you can improve for the next time you do it. If I’m not as a fast as the center back, I better do something else next time. I love reading the players throughout the game. Identifying strengths and weaknesses is super fun, ‘Oh I’ll beat her with this move, every time.’”
Lie around complacently and you’ll never get ahead. Moreno recognizes that, especially for someone who zips around the field, challenging opponents with her blazing speed.
“They tell me that I’m pretty fast down the sidelines so physically I’d say I’m fast,” she said. “I’ve got fast feet. So when I get the ball, I’m quick with my decisions and small touches. As a forward you have to have control of the ball going down the sides 1-v.-1 against defenses.”
Complimenting that speed is strong vision of the entire field that’s improved in the past year. The Falcons would’ve been something to watch in motion with Moreno possibly even better than she was a year ago.
With her, along with senior Riley Wincker and junior Kayla Shebar among the key returning offensive threats, as well as solid players in the midfield led by sophomore Claudia Kim and seniors Camille Cote and Payten Yates, this was an impressive-looking group.
“I was told by my club coaches that I’ve improved on seeing the field and in recognizing the pass before it happens and knowing where I want the ball before I receive it or hand it off to teammates.”
Fellow sophomore Claudia Kim has been playing with Moreno for about six years and the two have become great friends. It certainly helps that the two are both exceptional talents as Kim also made the varsity squad as a freshman last year and was expected to play a big role this spring.
“I absolutely love playing with Olivia, and we just clicked from the beginning,” Kim said. “She’s a trustworthy player, and I know that she can take care of the ball and will fight to keep it.”
Kim has seen Moreno finish countless times, so she’s certainly trying to get the ball to her.
“We know where to look for each other on the field, and we know where the other wants us to be,” Kim said. “Also, as an offensive center mid, I’m always looking for a forward. Olivia knows where to position herself on the field for that pass.
“I don’t know what’s going on in her head but she seems calm and collected while playing on the field and doesn’t let the pressure get to her.”
Wheaton North coach Tim McEvilly has coached a handful of tremendous scoring talents during his 20-year tenure at the school, players like Jaime Orwiler and Lexi Pelafas, but they don’t come around too often. He saw right away that Moreno had the potential to be something special.
“I had seen her in the summer camps and in the preseason, and what we do with open gym in the fall, and then we do some things indoors,” he said. “It’s not a ton of stuff, but between the camps and the 10 times or so between I saw a kid who always seemed to score goals.”
While McEvilly may have been a bit skeptical of her goal-scoring prowess at that time, because Moreno wasn’t doing it under the lights or the pressure of a DuKane Conference game, that was put to rest as she continued to bury shot after shot.
“Once we had tryouts in the spring of 2019, all she did was keep on scoring,” he said. “Every single competition she was just scoring, and I was like, ‘Gosh, she doesn’t stop scoring goals.’
“She just has a kind of drive, an instinct to get the goal, to get behind defenders. It’s unique to see. And (Kayla) Shebar has that drive, but in over 20 years I haven’t had more than a handful of kids that played that way. They play to get behind and beat people, and it’s fun to see.”
As McEvilly has witnessed first-hand for a long time now that pure goal scorers like Moreno are a rare breed, and some of their finest attributes are innate.
“First off, you can coach individual kids to recognize situations where they need to do a better job of challenging defenses in 1-v.-1 situations,” he said. “In the grand scheme of things, you can’t place those instincts inside of player where before the ball gets to them they’re diagramming two or three ways to beat the first defender and then the defender after them.
“You can try to foster some things, but generally if they’re not born with them, they’re not there. That’s why it’s special to see what they’re able to do to make a difference.”
Being the go-to girl while being a part of team can also be tricky, McEvilly said. And if you become that kind of player right off the bat as an underclassman, that in itself can be another challenge.
“Especially with female athletes you have to be careful to tell them you want them to be the difference-maker because females are a part of a sports program because a lot of them want to be a part of a team,” McEvilly said.
“Sometimes they struggle with standing out in the clear when they’re the one their depending on; not because of fear or they can’t do it, but by comparison of how it makes the other girls feel.
“There’s the whole own mental battle there of being able to play with confidence and recognize there’s no insult to someone else because of what you are.”
There’s no denying that Moreno can be, and wants to be, the kid coach Tim McEvilly can count on when the Falcons really need a goal.
“McEvilly tells me that he’s been trying for so many years to have that player who can get you a goal when you need a goal,” she said. “That’s what he’s looking for from his forwards so that has always been my mindset here.
“I’m a goal scorer so I need to score as often as I can and get as many shots as I can. I’m going to look for opportunities, and if I don’t have to do it, I’m going to look at something else, other options.”
Despite that mindset, she still’s making key decisions in fractions of seconds, leaving no time to be wasted. And it can be the deal breaker between netting game-winners or game-tying goals, misfiring or distributing and setting up a teammate with a better chance of doing it.
“Honestly the hardest part of the game is the decision making,” she said. “But you learn from you’re mistakes and keep going. You can’t get stuck on the what ifs. I think that’s why it’s so important as a player to recognize your strengths and weaknesses.
“One of my strengths is going 1-v.-1 and shooting and assisting. Sometimes it’s passing, and I try to be accurate but I know I can improve on that. Recognizing (your abilities) is super important to apply to help your team.”
And while most shots aren’t going to end in celebration, Moreno is going to fight and fight until she gets one to go in rather than sulk about a potential missed opportunity. She may be only 5-foot-1 but she’s a giant when it comes to attacking.
“She’s always looking for opportunities to score, and she’ll fight until the very end of the play,” Kim said. “Or until the ball ends up in the back of the net.”
Despite the high school season-ending blow, Moreno remains optimistic and not just about returning to playing soccer, but to life in general. Some of that is instilled at home where her mother, Jennifer, is really enjoying spending time with her three daughters constantly under the same roof, with junior Zoe, a volleyball player at Wheaton North, and younger sister, Marlowe, who will graduate from elementary school soon.
“My mom is always happy now because all her girls are home,” Olivia Moreno said. “So she loves getting to hang out with us all day and that has been nice. And if I wasn’t doing this and if I didn’t have soccer, I’d be hanging out with friends. That’s usually what I’m doing when I’m not busy with soccer.”
She expects soccer to hopefully resume for her this summer with her club team. If that doesn’t happen, she’ll remain positive that it’ll eventually return, and she’ll welcome it when it does.
“Why waste so much time being a pessimist,” she questioned. “Oh my gosh, these countdowns until it’s over. At least we can go outside. We have the ability to communicate with friends and family. We should be thankful for the things we do have.”
Although she’s worked as a babysitter and refereed youth soccer games through the Wheaton Park District, Moreno is excited about her first customer service gig with Kimmer’s Ice Cream, which is certainly a hot spot during the summer months, especially when kids are active with soccer, softball, lacrosse and baseball leagues. Those too have been suspended for the time being while Moreno doesn’t know when she’ll even start working.
“I’m excited about it but I haven’t been able to start training yet,” she said. “All of this is crazy. I don’t feel like I’m a sophomore. I just got into high school and now it’s almost my junior year. This whole experience with the pandemic, I hope everyone comes out with a new sense of gratitude to everything.”