While it may seem as if Ryan Carr’s initial contributions to the Notre Dame High girls varsity soccer team came last year, that would be fake news.
The Hamilton native actually aided the Irish cause as a 10th-grader.
“I got hurt and kept stats my sophomore year for varsity,” Carr said. “It was so annoying. But I was good at it…well, I think I was good.”
At this point, coach Lauren Diaz is more concerned with how good the senior defender will be on the field, and she got a pretty good indication of that last season.
“Coming back off an ACL tear the year before, it’s always a big transition,” the second-year coach said. “I think that confidence you saw in her continued to grow. At first she had a brace on, then the brace came off (at Diaz’s urging). As that continued to progress you saw her get more and more time and experience as the season went on and I think that’s just gonna soar her into this year.”
Carr has been soaring in soccer since she was a little girl. Her mother, Debbie Carr, is an Irish assistant and began coaching Ryan at a young age with the Hamilton Wildcats (her father, Tom, is a standout area football and basketball official, but stays out of Debbie’s way due to his astounding lack of soccer knowledge).
From the Wildcats, Carr switched to the Hibernians. Debbie, who played at the University of Maryland, remained as her coach.
“She’s really well-rounded in soccer so she has a lot of knowledge with it,” Ryan said. “Just having my mom there as my coach is always good, because she was very hard on me, and that’s what I needed. That makes me the player I am today. I wouldn’t be the same without her.
“Having her at Notre Dame is good, too. She’s always gonna be harder on me than anybody else with the fitness and the running. I want to show her ‘Look mom, I’m doing it!’”
Prior to high school, Carr showed her leadership skills off the field by serving as president of the Grice Middle School Student Council in 8th grade. She played freshman soccer and basketball for the Irish; but her basketball season got cut short when Ryan tore her ACL playing winter soccer for Team 85.
“I got pushed and went the wrong way, and wow, was it devastating,” Carr said. “It was really a big mental injury, not just physical. It was one of the toughest injuries and the recovery was really hard. I just had to push through it.”
And for the first time in her life, Carr was stuck watching, and charting goals and assists.
“It was really frustrating,” she said. “I always give 100 percent and not being able to do 100 just sucks.”
In fact, she couldn’t even give one percent.
“I was in the brace for over a year,” she said. “My basketball season (as a sophomore) was really tough. I came in with coach Diaz last year and she was like ‘You don’t need that, you’re ready’ I was like ‘Well OK I don’t need this,’ I got off the brace and was better than ever.”
Carr became a key performer in the back for an Irish team that finished 11-5-2. Offensively, her only goal was a big one as it helped Notre Dame tie Allentown, 1-1. But defense has always been her game since she started.
“I played center-mid for a little while but being my size, it’s better that I’m in the back,” said Carr, who has good height. “And I can see the field from back there, I like that. I try to get in on everything. I try to step up if we need the offense. If we need more defense I encourage my team to get back.”
Cam Beetel, a junior midfielder, is impressed by her teammate.
“She’s a tough player,” Beetel said. “She sticks in there, doesn’t let the ball get by her. She’s a big asset for us.”
The Irish lost two defenders and a standout goalie to graduation, but return a strong core of defenders. Diaz will have Carr at center back thanks to her strong communication skills and stellar field vision.
“She can really do it all,” the coach said. “There’s times we can tell her ‘Ryan you’re staying on this girl and you’re just gonna be a noodge,’ and she is. That’s the best way I can describe her. She’ll just match up and make that other forward’s job miserable. Which is what you want to do as a defender.
“But she also has to contain and slow a player down and get everybody back. She knows the difference of when to do one or the other, which is another component at center back that we love about her. And she’s great in the air.”
Physical skills are only part of what makes Carr effective. Along with the goalie, she has to be a great communicator in that end of the field.
“At center back you’re talking the entire game so you don’t only have to know your spot, you have to be able to talk to the midfielders in front of you telling them when they have time to turn, if the pressure is on,” Diaz said. “The communication aspect she brings is not only going to help our backs but our midfield and center forwards.”
Carr embraces that part of the game.
“You have to have great communication,” she said. “You need to tell your defenders that if you’re shifting they need to shift with you. If you’re going up they need to come with you. If you’re covering they need to be with you. It’s all about communication.”
Carr will need to do more of that this year after the Irish lost several veterans, including goalie Olivia Bodmer (now at Rutgers). She is ready for it.
“I definitely feel a lot more confident,” Carr said. “Last year those (seniors) made me feel really comfortable around them. Just playing in front of Liv was really good last year. Having that one year under my belt with those girls, now I have to step up and be there for these girls.”
And it’s always more fun being there for them on the field, rather than the scorer’s table.
Senior Ryan Carr is part of a strong core of defenders on the Notre Dame soccer team this year. (Photo by Rich Fisher.),
