To be a goal scorer in soccer, one must possess a strong foot, an ability to beat a defender one-v-one and a knack for knowing just where to slot a ball.
There is, however, one intangible that can’t be taught at the club level or camps and it is just as important as any physical attribute.
Hunger.
The desire to absolutely want to score that goal no matter who or what is in the way.
That was never a problem for Kyara Castro Gamboa.
“It’s something that I always had since I started playing soccer,” the Hamilton West junior said.
Which is a big reason why Gamboa finished this season as one of the Colonial Valley Conference’s leading scorers with 17 goals and an assist. She will carry 32 career goals into her senior campaign.
Her emergence this year helped Hamilton to six victories, its highest total since 2021.
“Kyara was very important in our overall improvement as a team,” assistant coach Shannon Maher said. “Each year we say we need to be more offensive and need to score goals to win, so getting Kyara ,who is eager to score, has helped us a lot. She is able to take shots and get us scoring opportunities.”
Gamboa felt working within the framework of her teammates enabled her to get some better chances.
“We played really well this year and we had a good season even though we didn’t win a lot of games,” Gamboa said. “What I think changed was how this year we played more as a team and we didn’t play individually. I also think the communication we have with each other, and the trust we have for each other is what made us a better team.”
And she felt that the rest of her team made her a better performer .
“This season was one of my best seasons not just as a player, but as a teammate,” Gamboa said. “I think this year I improved as a scorer because I was more mature, and my team helped me become a better scorer because without a team it wouldn’t be possible.”
Gamboa admitted that one of her greatest strides this year was realizing it was her teammates that made great things possible.
“I improved the way that I think,” she said. “Now that I’m a little bit older, I’m more mature and I think more as a teammate, which I didn’t do the previous years. I used to only think about myself and now that I changed the way I think it has been a lot better not just for me, but for my team too.”
She also began taking to coaching better.
“As Kyara got older she got a little more mature so she was able to listen to us when we tell her to take a girl on or pass,” Maher said. “She’s been able to learn from us and improve her game.”
Gamboa began playing rec soccer at age 7 and eventually moved on to travel with the HTRSA Banshees and NLSA. With the Banshees, Gamboa played midfield and defender, which she felt helped her understand the game from different points of view. NLSA made her a forward and Gamboa called it “a good experience” that honed her shooting and other necessary forward skills.
When Gamboa arrived at West, head coach Staci Priestley and her staff were immediately excited.
“As a freshman, Kyara definitely stood out with her footwork and speed,” Maher said. “She came into the program with a natural ability to find space and finish.”
Unlike some 9th-graders, who are hoping just to make varsity, Gamboa came in feeling good about her chances.
“I wasn’t surprised,” she said. “I was really confident in myself because I know what I’m able to do, how I play and my skills.”
It was hardly false bravado, as Gamboa promptly tied Madison Bressler for the team lead in goals with six. Last year she was in on over half of the Hornets 20 goals, collecting nine goals and two assists.
This past season, she either scored or set up 18 of Hamilton’s 30 goals. It’s safe to say as goes Kyara, go the Hornets. She has produced 17 goals and three assists In Hamilton’s nine wins over the past two seasons, and had at least a goal or assist in every contest. She had four hat tricks and a two-goal game this season, and also had the lone goal in a 1-1 tie with Hightstown.
Not surprisingly, teams began paying more attention to the slick frontrunner. Gamboa knew just how to combat that.
“As her goal total has gone up over the seasons, some teams will double team her, or mark her tighter,” Maher said. “If she couldn’t score she would still try to find chances for her teammates. She keeps working hard, and tries to use that pressure to help the team by passing it to another player.”
It is all part of the maturation process.
“She’s always had that natural hunger to score and compete,” Maher said. “As she got older her decision making has gotten better and her ability to move off the ball and her confidence has also grown.”
After playing all over the pitch, Gamboa knows her instincts make her best suited to playing up front.
“I feel that when I’m on top; everything I do comes naturally,” she said. “I don’t have to worry about what I’m gonna do next because it’s just something that I already know.”
That natural ability allows Gamboa to dribble around opponents with different moves thanks to a quickness on the ball. She is confident enough to take on any defender and, if there is no opening, she knows where to pass the ball in order to keep the offense moving forward.
“She has a lot of energy,” Maher said. “She’s aggressive and she really wants to score. She’ll take anyone on and go to the goal all by herself. She’s quick, she has a lot of moves. She’s always a threat when she gets the ball. She can create her own shot taking a girl on, or she’ll wait for help.”
Most of Gamboa’s goals came in the box this season. But rest assured she can bury one from outside the 18.
“I think my strength as a scorer is the power I have in my shot and my placement of the ball,” she said. “I get most of my goals because of where I place them, most of them in the corners. But I do not just use my strong foot when I shoot, it’s also when I send long balls to my teammates.”
An all-around athlete, Gamboa also plays basketball and lacrosse at West, but her aim is to play college soccer. Her short-term goal is to see what she and the Hornets can do in 2026.
“I can’t wait to see what’s coming for me and the team next year,” she said. “I’m excited because it’s going to be my last year as a high school soccer player.”
The Hornet coaches are pretty excited to see how that turns out as well.