In describing Caileigh Guzik’s attributes, Caitlyn Curran doesn’t leave much to the imagination as to what is the common thread.
“She’s a great teammate, she’s a great leader, she’s a great soccer player,” the Robbinsville High girls soccer coach said. “And she’s a great kid, too.”
It all sounds pretty great, and the senior was doing a nice job of helping the Ravens to a great start to their season.
With a freshmen-laden lineup, Robbinsville was 5-1-1 through its first seven games and was one point ahead of second place Allentown in the Colonial Valley Conference’s Colonial Division.
“I’m very excited,” Guzik said in mid-September. “The team chemistry has been there from the start. Everyone gets along. We understand each other. I really think we can do some great things this season.”
Curran agreed, saying “We’re off to an amazing start. We have a great incoming freshman class that has really helped. Our underclassmen filled the gaps we needed filled. The chemistry amongst them is something that I haven’t been a part of in a while. It’s really fun to watch and to coach.”
And while the youngsters are stepping up, it is reliable veterans like Guzik who helped limit opponents to just four goals in the first seven games.
Now in her third season as a varsity center-back, Guzik has been the glue to a back line that includes junior Katie Andrus on the right and freshman Kinsley Franke on the left.
“She has really been a great director for them,” Curran said. “They respect her. They listen to what she says and she takes control back there.
“She has really gotten us out of some tight spots. In the PDS game (a 2-1 win) she must have made four or five 35-yard sprints back to shut down breakaways. I know our goalie Gabby Sabol respects and appreciates her as a center back as well.”
A junior, Sabol had four shutouts in her first seven varsity games so she can certainly appreciate the leadership and experience Guzik provides.
Her career started with the Robbinsville Red Bulls recreation team at age six and “I still have all the little pictures of me playing soccer with my little shin guards.”
Guzik began as a defender and never left the back line as she moved up to the NLSA Soccer Academy.
“I knew that (scoring) was a big part of it but I also knew that was where my team needed me the most,” she said. “I would go anywhere to help them out.”
Upon arriving in high school Guzik sat out her freshman season to take some time for herself. Nonetheless, her skills drew the eye of Curran during a regular school day.
“A couple of the girls said she played,” the coach recalled. “I would watch her during phys-ed when they would do soccer. I approached her, I said ‘You’re a really good soccer player,’ and she said ‘I think I’ll come out for my sophomore year.’ She ended up coming out and she showed out for sure. She showed what she could do very quickly and nothing has changed since then.
“She found a spot as one of our center backs. She immediately fell into that position based on her work ethic, speed, intensity and aggressiveness. I think the word I’d use to describe her is probably tenacious. She blended very, very well with the team in that back line.”
As the years went on Guzik took on more of a leadership role and was chosen as a team captain by her teammates this year.
“She’s really taken to that responsibility,” Curran said.
While Guzik needed to take a year off, she always knew her soccer career wasn’t over.
“I was really excited to do it as a sophomore,” she said. “I talked to all my friends that played freshman year and they were all loving it.”
Guzik did not love her varsity debut, however, which came against Steinert.
“It was really nerve wracking,” she said. “I started over a senior so I knew there would be a lot of pressure on me at that position. I just had to stay confident in myself and play my hardest. And actually, I got hurt in that game. I fell and hurt my knee.”
It was a minor injury and Guzik was quickly back in the lineup and playing courageously.
“She’s fearless and she has every quality you would want in a center back,” Curran said. “She’s not really missing any piece of the puzzle.”
Guzik feels the key to being a good defender is having a positive mindset.
“You just have to stay confident in yourself,” she said. “You have to go into it thinking ‘I’m gonna win this, I’m gonna do my best,’ and just come out hard. Once you start believing in yourself you can do anything you want.”
It also helps to look down at the ground on occasion.
“I always try to watch their feet,” Guzik said. “I watch that the most. And then when they go into that move I know exactly what they’re going to do.”
Guzik played with Andrus last season and feels that Franke “fits right in with us, she understands us,” so the defense has meshed well together.
Early in the season, Curran was counting on the D to lock things down while her young forwards and midfielders progressed. That happened quickly as four freshmen had goals through the first seven games.
“My coach said.most of the responsibility does fall on the defense,” Guzik said. “No one really notices that, so she appreciates our efforts. We’re starting to connect more passes and get more goals, I think we’ll be all right with the freshman up top. I’m not worried about it.”
One thing that has helped is that the midfielders are not afraid to take chances and move forward since they know their rock solid center-back is there to cover up.
“I think that’s something that’s gone unsaid,” Curran said. “It’s kind of an unwritten rule on the team. We feel confident going forward because she’s back there. It’s not something that needs to be talked about much. It’s just something that, because of Caileigh’s personality traits, athletic traits and leadership traits, people know they can do it and she’ll have their back.”
There are times Guzik may go forward, but those opportunities are limited.
“She does a really great job when she needs to step, but when I tell her to play conservatively she does a good job of holding her space,” Curran said. “When the opportunity arises, she’s not afraid to use her foot skills to take the ball up the field. A great quality we have this year is our defenders play the feet and they’re comfortable playing to each other and playing back to Gabby. So we’re able to use that to help our offense.”
Shen she’s not playing soccer Guzik is pounding the books as witnessed by a 4.3 grade point average. She likes to enjoy her downtime by painting.
“I love going to the beach, so I usually go on Pintrest and find beach photos,” she said.
And when she is not painting with brushes, she is creating a masterpiece effort on how to play center-back.
