Most soccer coaches will note that a player who has the ability to score goals is nice, but it doesn’t matter much if they don’t have the hunger to go with it. A passive personality up front will score their share just on talent, but a hungry player will tally a lot more through sheer tenacity.
Take Emily Morgan, for example. She has the talent, and she’s dreaming about beating goalies while suiting up.
“Every time before a game I think to myself and get into the mentality of ‘I’m gonna score, I’m gonna score, I’m gonna score,’” the Robbinsville High sophomore said. “And I think to myself of how I’m gonna play and what I’m gonna do. I think that’s what helps me when I get on the field. Once I get into the game I’m already thinking about putting the ball in the back of the net.”
Coach Caitlin Curran loves Morgan’s thirst for goals, along with the prowess that goes with it.
“She’s very driven,” Curran said. “She steps on the field and she’s laser focused. She loves soccer. She’s very passionate about it, she plays that way as well. Some players I’ve had in the past, they’re very talented but that hunger and that drive isn’t there. She’s the complete package.”
It did not take long for the coach to realize that. She had heard great things about Morgan’s play for Pond Road Middle School. That immediately put thoughts in Curran’s head of what to expect. She had gotten reports like that before and been disappointed.
“When I hear a player is good I typically have very high expectations of what good is – and she 100 percent met those expectations,” the veteran mentor said. “She didn’t play like a freshman last year and she’s not playing like a sophomore this year. She plays beyond her years. She was never timid, or shy. She steps on the field and she blends among everyone, it’s not like ‘Oh she’s a sophomore or last year ‘Oh she’s a freshman.’ She was just a girl on the varsity soccer team. I was very happy with what I saw.”
It’s not hard to see why, as Morgan was second on the team to then-senior Kara Keating in goals (11) and points (25). She tallied the Ravens lone goal in an opening-day loss to Steinert, which made Emily realize she belonged.
“I was extremely nervous, I had no clue what to expect,” Morgan said. “But just like any game, once I got into the game I got a few touches on the ball and I felt comfortable. Then I felt I was just playing a normal game at that point. Scoring that goal definitely motivated me, and the feeling of scoring, the energy from the team after the goal encouraged me to keep working and to find the back of the net more.”
Morgan scored in eight matches and had two multi-goal efforts. It helped that, rather than shun her due to jealousy, the upperclassmen embraced the ninth-grader.
“They were really supportive, they made the environment so easy to come into, it was just such a fun environment to be part of,” Morgan said. “They just did the little things. After practices if we were going somewhere they’d ask if anyone needed a ride. They made it so easy to come into the team, which definitely helped for the season.”
Through Robbinsville’s 3-3 start this year, Morgan led the Ravens with six goals. It hasn’t been easy, however, as her 2022 success has led to extra defensive attention this year.
“People definitely have her number,” Curran said. “They’re starting to double team and get on her a little bit so she’s working through getting beyond all that. She’s starting to get fouled more. I told her ‘Use your skill. What they can’t make up for in skill they use in physicality. So you just have to use your skill around that.’”
Morgan knows it’s part of the game and she just needs to deal with it.
“The games are a little bit rougher now, a few more cuts and bruises after each game,” she said. “It just teaches me to keep working and playing my own game even in situations like that.”
Soccer lured Morgan into its embrace prior to kindergarten, when she played on a local team of girls and boys coached by their dads. She moved up to the RSA Red Bulls travel team, and now plays with the ultra-competitive PDA South, which recently gained Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) status.
Her time with PDA helped sharpen Emily’s game, along with the work she put in herself. She sets up cones in her basement and each day will practice touches on the ball around the cones. She will also blast shots against her basement wall, helping her produce what Curran jokingly calls “a 1,000 miles per hour shot.” Morgan also trains in Wall on occasion, saying “That’s a really high level hour of training. It’s non-stop and helped me adjust to the speed of play.”
That became obvious the minute Morgan joined the Ravens.
“As soon as stepped on the field her freshman year, she commanded the field,” Curran said. “She has high expectations for her teammates but also high expectations for herself. She takes it personally when maybe she doesn’t feel like she’s having a good game but her bad game is still a lot of other people’s really good game. So when she’s off a little it’s still OK.”
Morgan plays both center-midfield and forward for Robbinsville. For PDA the versatile left-footed shooter has recently played on the left wing; and she takes a little something from every place they put her.
“I definitely notice the more I move around on the field it helps me at different positions,” she said. “I used to play in the back for the Red Bulls and I got to see the whole field. Once I moved to the middle obviously you see less of it but it definitely helped me because I noticed things I didn’t see before.”
Curran feels Morgan relishes any challenge, saying “If you give her a job she takes it personally to try to get it done. She’s a great kid to have, a great asset to have. We definitely expect to see more goals out of her for the next two-and-a-half years.”
Morgan has been scoring all different ways, which is not surprising. She can blast one in the upper 90 when need be, or she can just gently place a ball when the situation warrants. Curran said she is also deft at getting balls to her teammates when the shot is not there.
“She can definitely find the seams,” the coach said. “She’s very direct. She knows where she wants the ball to go and also knows where the ball has to go. She sees the field well, she immerses herself in the game.”
Morgan’s IQ is sharp because she is a student of the game. Her dad furnishes her with YouTube videos to watch, and she is a fan of women’s college soccer. Emily recently attended the Rutgers-Princeton game, but is mostly a fan of Richmond.
Playing soccer in college is definitely on her radar, but the sport does not consume her to the point where she does nothing else. Morgan is a member of Robbinsville’s Play Unified Club run by the school’s special ed program. One day the volunteers are in the gym, other times they’re doing arts and crafts and on occasion they will bake.
“It’s just a great experience to be with the kids,” Emily said.
There is also the work she does with the Red Cross Club, which makes Christmas cards and performs fundraisers.
“I feel like that’s something that makes me happier,” Morgan said. “I like helping other people because it makes me feel better about myself.”
Much like the Ravens feel better about themselves when Emily is on the field.
RHS girl’ soccer player Emily Morgan moves the ball up the field during a game against Princeton.,
