From defense to offense? No sweat

In 2010, Claire Midili was a second-team, all-conference defender for the Washington Township girls' soccer team. She's a four-year starter, but she entered this season with just two career goals.

Call it a hunch, but when Township coach George Hobbins went looking for a forward this offseason, Midili was the first person he looked to.

"I just thought she could handle it," Hobbins said.

The veteran coach said he isn't the least bit surprised to see Midili now leading his Minutemaids (5-3) with 11 goals through the team's first seven games.

Midili, who hadn't played offense since youth soccer, said she jumped at the opportunity to play forward.

"I'm not going to lie - I was excited," Midili said. "In the beginning, it was hard to pick it up again. But after maybe two scrimmages, I really found my stride."

Midili is one of many pleasant surprises on a team that suddenly looks like one of the top five teams in South Jersey.

She was brought up top to complement forward Allegra Ondrejka. But when Ondrejka went down with an anterior cruciate ligament injury earlier this season, the onus of scoring goals fell squarely on Midili.

So far, she has been more than comfortable carrying the load.

"She's such a great kid," Hobbins said. "She's a team player. When I sat her down and asked her to play forward, she just said, 'Coach, whatever you need me to do.' And with her confidence and her talent, she's the type of player that can really turn it on and control play."

Midili relies on athleticism and speed for much of her success. That was never more evident than in her biggest goal this season: a breakaway look late in the second half that sent her team to a 1-0 win over Shawnee on Sept. 28.

To that point, the Minutemaids had spent the season trailing the Renegades in the rankings, including the games before Ondrejka went down with the ACL tear.

Both Hobbins and Midli said the team's confidence wasn't where it needed to be after Ondrejka's injury.

That changed with the win over Shawnee.

"I think we've finally realized that we are one of the best teams out there," Midili said. "Everyone just has that in their mind now. And we've been coming out with a winning attitude. We're not nervous, and we're not afraid to play any team."

In a conference as tough as the Olympic, easily the strongest and deepest in South Jersey, that attitude is all but essential.

Part of the Minutemaids' confidence comes with realizing just how well-rounded they are: They feature one of the Olympic's top goalkeepers in second-year starter Kylie Gorman, who has four shutouts this season; Bianca Richardson is filling in seamlessly where Midili left off at sweeper; and Midili emerged as a top scoring option on a seasoned offense.

"We have some good kids here," Hobbins said. "And having them believe in themselves is such a big part of our success. . . . They started to believe that they were better than most of the teams that they were playing."