Slicing up opposing defenses is what Caroline Novak is best at.
But it’s not the sole reason she helped Crawfordsville girls soccer to a 9-7 record and second-place finish in the final year of the Sagamore Conference.
The junior absorbs soccer knowledge like a sponge and has quickly learned to spread it through communication to teammates on the pitch.
“It’s exponential growth in leadership from her sophomore to junior year,” Crawfordsville girls soccer coach Alex Ehrlich said. “She has always had IQ for the game and is now able to convey that knowledge as a vocal leader.”
Novak was good as a sophomore. She totaled eight goals and 11 assists for a tally of 27 points.
As good as she was though last season, this season she was better, and the team was better because of her increase in skill, desire, and leadership.
Novak is the Journal Review Girls Soccer Player of the Year.
“I knew we would have many opportunities in the offensive third,” Novak said. “It was just about who was going to capitalize on those opportunities. In the offseason, I was able to work with coaches and players who pushed me to improve, so I could go into the season with confidence.”
As a junior, Novak scored 18 goals and added four assists. Crawfordsville turned a three-game skid to start the season into a pair of four-game winning streaks as the fall went along. The Athenians finished second in the SAC to Tri-West.
“Being a captain of the team was a great opportunity,” Novak said. “The team’s success meant a lot to me because it shows how as a team we want to get better, and how we were able to hold each other accountable. That is important to me because it shows the team cared and wanted to work hard.”
Even with steady improvement, Novak’s ability on the pitch has been evident, but Ehrlich believes her desire to maximize her potential is what sets her apart.
“Her coach-ability makers her a special soccer player, student and person,” he said. “She wants to learn and grow in every area of her life. Any time she is given criticism she uses it as an opportunity to get better.”
Crawfordsville has steadily improved under Ehrlich’s direction, and Novak has played a big part in the Athenians’ success. And after her sophomore season, Ehrlich remembers a conversation that challenged Novak as a young leader.
What happened next completely exceeded his expectations.
“We discussed her leadership ability and how she could improve her confidence in herself in order to be the best leader she can be,” he said. “She developed relationships with teammates, worked really hard in the offseason, and he used her voice a lot more in practice and in games in order to build up her team.”
Soccer is a priority for Novak. A year-round sport that keeps her on her toes. But, she has no trouble finding time for other activities, including doubling-up with cross country during the fall.
Novak helped the Athenian cross country team to a county title, was second-team all-conference and was a regional qualifier. It didn’t hurt her conditioning for soccer either.
“Being in cross country has helped me because it builds up my endurance which is needed to play soccer,” she said. “Cross country helps me the most in the summer because I am running every day and doing different speed workouts.”
If it wasn’t a speed workout on the morning of a game day, it was a core workout with the cross country team on a Friday morning before soccer practice.
Novak never wastes a moment to get better and prepare for what’s next.
“It seems crazy to me that Caroline plays soccer all year around for school and for Hendricks Elite, runs track and CC, plays clarinet and piano and also maintains a 4.0 GPA,” Ehrlich said. “I do not know how she does it.”
