Roslyn Almodovar’s record chase came down to one final kick, a 35-plus yard free kick late in her last high school girls soccer game. As Almodovar lined up for the kick, her ankle still hurting from an injury suffered earlier in the month, she was unsure if she had the strength to put the shot on net.
It turned out Belleville’s star midfielder had one last bit of brilliance in her high school career.
The right-footed shot sailed beyond the reach of the goalkeeper and under the crossbar to give Almodovar her 67th career goal. With it, Almodovar became Belleville’s career goals leader, eclipsing the previous record of 66 by Brianna Ulloa in 2017.
“I was still injured a little bit, so I couldn’t really run without a limp,” said Almodovar about the Oct. 29 season finale against Caldwell. “So when I had to take this kick, I was thinking that it wasn’t going to get that far because my ankle was still messed up. It just stopped raining for 10 seconds and I kicked it.”
“I’m telling her, just take a deep breath and put it on net. You’re fine.There’s 10 minutes left, this is your chance. Just breathe. You can do this,” head coach Jennifer Alves said. “It was just so surreal because she’s such a good kid and it’s so Roslyn to score like that because she’s a great player.”
Within the context of the game, the goal might not have meant much, but to Almodovar and her teammates, it meant everything. Almodovar was mobbed by her teammates. Later, they lifted Almodovar up in celebration and her accomplishment was recognized with a banner.
“It meant a lot because I got to celebrate with all of my teammates,’ said Almodovar. “Even though we were losing the game, we all celebrate together. It was one of my favorite memories of the season.
“It was better than I could have expected because after the game I was expecting myself to be distraught that (my high school career) was over. But just us celebrating on the field really meant a lot to me.”
Five days earlier, Almodovar returned from the ankle injury that cost her two-plus weeks to tie the record by scoring four goals in an 8-0 victory over Orange.
For the season, Almodovar finished with 14 goals and nine assists despite being marked by two and sometimes even three defenders virtually all fall.
“Any game that we went into, she would have two, three girls marking her and all you would hear from the opposing sideline is ‘17!, get on 17!’ and I’m standing there like, ‘no, leaver alone. Don’t get on 17.’” Alves said. “But she found a way to prosper and work through it. She was doing things that really are incredible for a 17-year-old to be doing on the soccer field.”
Almodovar burst onto the scene as a freshman, posting 10 goals and nine assists. In 2023, as a sophomore, she broke out with 22 goals and 16 assists. Last year, as a junior, Almodovar added 21 goals and four assists. Almodovar was a First Team, All-Conference selection all four seasons.
At Belleville, Almodovar has also been an All-Conference selection in bowling and flag football. During the winter and spring, she also plays club soccer for NJ Crush.
While Almodovar’s high school career ended that afternoon at Clearman Field, her soccer career has plenty more to come.
Last week, Almodovar signed her letter of intent to continue her soccer career at Mercy University, a Division II program in Dobbs Ferry, NY. Almodovar verbally committed to Mercy on April 2 and plans to study Exercise Science.
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)