Last year Hilldale center striker Aspen Nunn was pretty much an unknown quantity. Having played in the shadows of some quality players her freshman and sophomore years, she stepped into the spotlight for the Lady Hornets last year scoring 22 goals-just three shy of the school record. But going into her senior year, Aspen knows that there will be a target on her back this time around.

“I definitely feel more pressure this year. I feel I need to prove that I can perform even with that pressure on me but know that if they’re pressuring me, that leaves our other girls open,” said Aspen.

To help her out, head coach Michael Foreman has moved Nunn to an outside striker spot this year.

“This year we have some other players that can score so we moved Aspen out of the traffic in the middle so she can operate more one-on-one.”

Aspen got a late start in soccer, relatively speaking, not playing until the seventh grade.

“It took a lot of begging from my friends to get me to try it because I just didn’t think soccer was my thing. But I went to a rec team practice one day and I loved it.”

Along the way Aspen says there have been several older girls and coaches that she has admired but a couple in particular stand out.

“Bella McWilliams and her dad Phillip who was an assistant coach my freshmen year were both role models. Bella really showed what it was like to be a good team leader and team player and she really looked out for me. I think I learned a lot about leadership from those older girls but I’m not going to lie, sometimes on the field I can be a hothead and coach has to calm me down. I think I lead more by example and by encouraging the younger kids when they mess up. I think you have to have a positive attitude on the field in order to get the others to follow.”

Aspen, who is in National Honor Society, FCCLA, Nike Club as well as being active in her church and doing volunteer work, has a few college offers on the table already and has a couple of goals for her last season.

“I want to be a positive role model for our girls and motivate them to be good leaders,” she said. “And I want to break the school scoring record,” she laughed.