Much of the Colonial Valley Conference soccer faithful may be unaware of it, since the Nottingham girls finished 3-13, but the Northstars had a big-time scorer on their team.
Brooklyn Samonski fired 19 into the back of the net this year, putting her in a tie for the CVC lead with Steinert’s Adrianna Ryder by the end of the regular season. Ryder has a chance to break that tie as Steinert was heading into the state tournament while Nottingham’s season is over. Even so, it was a tremendous effort by the junior defender.
Yes, a defender.
“Pretty much every team you show up against you hear the other coach saying “OK, watch the girl with the headband, number 13.’ You know it right away she’ll be double marked, triple marked,” Nottingham coach Matt “The First Responder” Paglione said. “That’s why we had to put her in the back and make some sneaky runs. She’s had to game plan a little more here, than some other teams where they have threats all over the field and they can find themselves open a little easier.”
The young Northstars did not have another productive scorer to take the pressure off, as the rest of the team tallied a combined 15 goals. Samonski’s fellow captain, Sydney Auletta, was second with five.
But Brooklyn is quick to praise her teammates for aiding her success.
“I’ve been getting opportunities and my team is helping me get up there and score,” said Samonski, who is humble about her ability to get goals. “I kind of just dribble and if I have an opening I just shoot it. If it goes in, it goes in.”
Paglione feels it’s a little more than that when it comes to Samonski’s skills.
“She has a great shot, whether it’s left foot, right foot,” Paglione said. “She can strike a ball well from a distance. She scores on free kicks all the time. She did it twice in the West game last year for a win, she did it against Steinert this year and they only gave up four goals in the regular season.
“She’s just a threat from anywhere on the field. I’m most impressed with her versatility. When we said ‘Hey, drop back and play center back for us’, it was ‘Yes coach,’ and she did it at 110 percent.”
It was a necessary change as Samonski’s skills were not able to flourish early in the season. She scored just five goals through the first 11 games and the Northstars were shut out five times during that winless stretch.
Samonski was positioned up top, but Nottingham was unable to get the ball upfield to set her up.
“We kind of had to reconfigure some things,” Paglione said. “After a rough start we realized ‘All right, we need to drop her back and solidify that defense.’ And then we thought hopefully she can make her runs and score some.”
Which is exactly what happened as Samonski tallied 15 goals in October. She exploded toward the end of the year to power Nottingham to a three-game winning streak after it started 0-12. Brooklyn had three goals and two assists in a 6-1 win over Trenton, five goals and two assists in a 9-3 romp past South Hunterdon, and six goals in a 7-2 victory over Florence.
“That was fun,” Samonski said of the wins. “We were excited about it.”
Brooklyn began playing at age 4 with Hamilton rec. She moved to the Hamilton Wildcats, then to GAK and finally to PDA, where she currently plays. She began playing forward in rec, got moved to midfield and back on defense.
“Now I’m just anywhere,” she said.
Since she has played every spot but goalie, Samonski has the mindset of what to do as a defender and what to do as a forward. She just reverses the thought process when it comes to going against an opponent.
“When I have the ball, I know when they’re gonna step and I know what to do to make them go one way when I’m going the other way to get around them,” she said. “On defense, I know when to step right away, or when to give them some space and then step.”
When she arrived at Nottingham, Samonski admitted to being nervous as a freshman “the day before tryouts. Then when I got here, I got more comfortable.”
That’s not surprising, since she feels right at home on the pitch. Samonski had four goals and four assists as a freshman, and six goals and five assists as sophomore. But her contributions go far beyond the stats.
“She’s a coach’s dream to have on the field, off the field, everywhere,” said Paglione, who is done after one year as Stars coach after taking a position at Trenton High. “From running captain’s practices over the summer to showing up every day, you never have to question her hustle or her effort. She wants to play 80 minutes every single game.
“Sometimes it’s more difficult to be a captain on a team that’s 1-10, 2-11, a team that is struggling. And it’s more frustrating when you might have some talent and skills above the rest. It’s a test of her character. I think she’s shown this year who she is as a leader. I’m very thankful to have her and Sydney as captains this year.”
Samonski is only 5-foot-1, but feels that makes her job easier as well.
“I’m lower to the ground so I’m closer to the ball,” she said. “And most of the defenders are taller so they can’t get to me right away.”
Working tirelessly at her game, Brooklyn does a lot of shooting drills and works on her footwork when she is not practicing or playing. Her work ethic reaches into the classroom, where she has a 3.7 grade point average.
And while it can become easy for a good player to lose focus on a losing team, that’s never a problem with Samonski.
“I just love the game that much,” she said. “I love being with my teammates and celebrating when it’s really good. They push me every day. Playing soccer is an escape from school and all the other stuff I have to do. It’s just fun.”
That kind of attitude jumps out at Paglione. “You can’t take the passion out of either her or Sydney,” he said. “They said they want that opportunity to participate and play and hopefully make their teammates better as well. They just enjoy the game so much.”
And when Samonski is out there, there’s a good chance there could be a goal-scoring fireworks show.
Junior Brooklyn Samonski scored 19 goals for Nottingham this season. (Photo by Rich Fisher.),
