Maeve Humphreys evades a West Windsor South player during a home game on Oct. 18, 2013. Lawrence won, 3-2. (Staff photo by Samantha Sciarrotta.)
Even in the toughest of seasons for high school athletic teams, there is usually a bright spot.
The Lawrence High girls’ soccer team has one in junior center-midfielder Maeve Humphreys.
Despite the fact the Cards had just one win by mid-October, Humphreys had been playing at a top-flight level and serving as the team’s maestro.
“She controls the game, she sets the tempo for us,” coach Emily Palombo said. “She’s a workhorse, she has extreme endurance. She’s awesome, she’s motivated.”
Asked what her true value is, Palombo just says, “Everything.”
“She sees the field extremely well, she keeps us calm and never stops working,” the coach said. “And she’s always positive when she’s out there. She’s very coachable. She’s pretty much like a coach’s dream. We’ll tell her something and she executes in the game.
“We like for her to lead by example. We’re asking her to be a little more vocal. She’s kind of on the quiet side. When she gets out there we want to hear her talking to people, bossing them around.”
Humphreys is important in other ways as well. When a young team — which Lawrence is after graduating 11 players — suffers a lot of losses, it would be easy to get down. But Humphreys tries to keep everyone looking ahead.
“She goes out and works hard and tells them what needs to change, what they need to work on,” the coach said. “They want to win just as bad. But sometimes we put together a few good halves, and then dog it a little bit. Maeve usually plays a full game for us.”
Humphreys credits Palombo for her positive attitude, saying that she keeps the team up despite the losses.
“Coach does a really good job inspiring us all,” she said. “It’s been rough at times keeping that positive attitude. But she keeps the attitude upbeat and that helps us all look at the good side of things and keeps us working hard.”
Working hard has never been a problem for Humphreys, who began playing in the Lawrence rec league at age 6 and joined the Hamnett Tigers travel team at age 8. She has been with them ever since, playing a little bit of everything as they have her on the outside, in the middle and back on defense.
She made the Cardinal varsity team as a freshman.
“I started a little that year,” she said. “It depended on the game. That year was kind of a wake-up call. I don’t think you realize how big and strong and talented those girls are.
“I was used to girls my age. As a freshman, you’re marking a senior. I remember I had to mark a girl going to Penn State on a scholarship. That’s very intimidating but it teaches you to be tough. Being in that situation makes you a better player, or else. You need to step up.”
In ninth grade, she alternated between outside and central midfielder, then got moved to the wing for her sophomore year. This year, she is entrenched at center-mid. She feels her experience at so many other positions helps her while playing one of the most important spots on the field.
“I like it there,” she said. “We’ve kind of tried out a couple of different formations. We’re playing a 4-3-3 now. I’m doing a little more offensively but it’s more important that I get back on defense.”
Humphreys embraces her role as a defensive stopper when it’s assigned to her.
“We give her people and tell her ‘Hey, this person in the center, we need you to stick with them,’ and she’ll do it,” Palombo said. “At the Steinert game, Maeve played fantastic against Darah Wagner and didn’t give her anything. She took her out of the game and she played awesome.”
At 5-feet, 4-inches, Humphreys gave away at least four inches to Wagner, who is the Spartans leading scorer and was only held without a goal in three of Steinert’s first 12 games.
“I guess it’s a little intimidating, but I knew I had to mark her,” Humphreys said. “I had a teammate who’s friendly with her. We talked about her go-to move and that game I just put a body on her. I kind of made her mark me in a way. I was focused on shutting her down, she’s a great player.”
In other games, however, Humphreys lets her offensive abilities show. She had two goals and two assists in Lawrence’s first 11 games, but her value goes beyond stats.
And junior forward Sabrina Pascarella has been a beneficiary of that.
Pascarella, another bright spot, led the Cardinals with 12 goals in the first 11 games, as the chemistry between the two has made a difference.
“Sabrina and I have been playing together forever,” Humphreys said. “We were on the same team together since we were eight. We’re very used to playing with one another.
“For the most part, we know each other pretty well. We know each other’s tendencies and where each other are going to go, and what we’re going to do with the ball.”
That becomes evident when watching the two work together.
“Maeve sees all the openings,” Palombo said. “Maeve looks to play to Sabrina’s feet and find her in space. Sabrina is lightning fast. Maeve has the next level of seeing the field and being strong out there. The two complement each other well.”
What’s most impressive about Humphreys is that soccer is just a fraction of what she does in life.
Humphreys is taking advancement placement classes in environmental science, history, and language and composition. She is a member of Operation Smile, an organization that raises money for children with cleft lips and cleft palates. Last summer she went to a leadership conference in Virginia for OS.
“That’s one of my big things,” she said. “I really like that.”
If that’s not enough, she is part of THREADS, which focuses on community service. Humphreys is in charge of the women empowerment branch, which performs service projects each month. She is also a cheerleader, a member of the Model U.N., vice-president of the junior class, a member of the Cardinals swim team and a lifeguard at Ben Franklin Swim Club in the summer.
“She’s just an all-around great person,” Palombo said. “She does everything.”
And she does it with enthusiasm, no matter what the circumstance.
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