The term once in a lifetime or once in a generation shouldn’t get thrown around a lot. However, those phrases perfectly describe North Montgomery’s Teegan Bacon.
She is the all-time leader in goals scored (101) in Charger history, and that’s just the beginning. Charger coach Julie Hodges has routinely called Bacon a “program changing player.”
In each of the last two seasons, Bacon scored 33 goals, putting her among the state’s best scorers. After her junior season, North Montgomery graduated several seniors, leaving Bacon as the sole team leader.
This season while the Chargers went just 5-12, Bacon still found plenty of success. More often than not it was up to her to go get the ball, dribble past the entire opposing team’s back line, then find a way to score.
Coming into this season there were a couple of career milestones the Charger senior wanted to achieve. The first was accomplished in the first game of the season against Greencastle. Her first goal as a senior made Bacon the all-time leader in Charger history with her 69th career goal.
The next was one not many soccer players can say they’ve done. In the last regular season game at Lebanon, Bacon needed three goals to reach 100 for her career. She scored four.
“I set goals for myself every game and that was something I decided to do as an upperclassman,” Bacon said. “That combined with how much time I spent watching film on each opponent pushed me exactly how I needed to get to 100.”
Another stellar season along with achieving career milestones, made it only fitting that Bacon officially repeats as the 2022 Girls Soccer Player of the Year.
“I honestly didn’t see her as a scoring threat when she came in her freshman season,” said Hodges, the longtime Charger coach. “She played more of a defensive role for us until about half-way through the season. It wasn’t until we put her in that scoring role that things really began to click for us as a team.”
This season the Chargers started five freshman and four sophomores at different points. The dynamic of the Charger team changed drastically and that forced Bacon to do more. While it might not have been easy at points, the standout senior was ready for the challenge.
“Our assistant coach and I called Teegan a running back,” Hodges said. “She got so beat up this season with every team double and even triple teaming her and man marking her. She was still able to beat most defenses she faced and that’s where I’ve seen the biggest jump in her play. She knew she’d have to do almost everything on her own.”
Just a glance at the North Montgomery girls soccer record book will show you what a dominant force Bacon has been in four seasons with the Chargers. She owns the all-time Charger records for; most goals in a season (33), most goals in a career (101), most points in a season (69), most points in a career (217), and most goals in a game (6).
Bacon’s desire to be the best athlete she can, plus be the best representation of herself, stems from her dad Todd Bacon who is the head baseball coach at Marian.
“My dad has coached college athletics my entire life, so sports have always meant something different to me than most,” Bacon said. “It was a lot more serious and we learned that the habits you develop everything I associate myself with should reflect the best parts of me.”
While her high school career has come to an end, Bacon isn’t even close to being done with her soccer career. She’s currently a part of the Indiana Fire’s Elite Clubs National League team. Participation on that team is by invitation only. She’ll continue to work on her craft and improve her game before she gets ready to continue her soccer career at North Central College, which is currently ranked No. 21 in Division 3.
“Playing with the ECNL team is a huge deal for me, especially going to college,” Bacon said. “The college process was scary but thankfully I had my dad there to guide me as he’s been on both sides of the recruiting process. North Central felt right the first time I was on campus and after a lot of consideration I decided that I was going to get everything I wanted there.”
Bacon’s impact on the North Montgomery girls soccer program will be felt for years to come. Not only is she paving the way for the next wave of Chargers who are currently on the team, but she also is making an impact at an even greater level.
“Teegan would be the first person to tell you all of her achievements and accolades wouldn’t be possible without the people she’s gotten to play with,” Hodges said. “We’ve had one of our middle school players who has come to every single one of our games just for the sole fact to watch Teegan play. Her parents don’t realize how deep the love for the game of soccer this sixth grader has and that all stems from watching Teegan play. Her impact is just long lasting on what she’s done for this program and how its going to effect the future.”
At the end of the day, Bacon made a choice that she was going to be great. She followed up on that by putting in the work every single day to the sport that she loves. She hasn’t let anything stop her from becoming the player that she is today. That’s the message she wants to pass on as she leaves North Montgomery.
“Your school doesn’t define how good you are, it’s up to you to prove how good you can be,” Bacon said. “If you want to get better and really care about something, then you need to do whatever it takes. I wanted to show people that the only thing holding you back is yourself.”
While Bacon may not think of herself as a Charger legend, she has left a lasting legacy on North Montgomery.
