Boys soccer: Jacobs' Melick a rising star
In retrospect a white, bloodstained No. 6 uniform Noah Melick tossed to the bench during Jacobs' 3-2 regional semifinal win over Streamwood could've served more as a framed souvenir than just a jersey cleaned or destroyed because of its red blotches.
Due to a condition that will force the sophomore's blood vessels in his nose to be cauterized in late November to create scar tissue to stop chronic nose bleeding, Melick will no longer feature his frequent bloody noses. According to his coach, Anthony Cappello, the red rivers have poured in 3 games this season, let alone their heavy frequency in training.
Which made Melick's most recent one untimely to say the least with 6 minutes left in a 1-1 tie against a Sabres team that finished fourth last year at the Class 3A state finals.
"It was a nerve-racking," said Melick, who exited during the critical stretch. "They just keep coming, keep coming and I didn't know if it was going to stop and somehow it stopped. I knew I had to get back on the field and I just wanted to make something happen."
But Jacobs had more to clog as the Sabres managed to grab a 2-1 lead with 6 minutes remaining in the second overtime. But with a crisp, clean, stain-free jersey and his nostrils stuffed with gauze, Melick made his mark with 3 minutes left.
On a loose ball near the top of the box that the keeper couldn't gather, Melick raced up, split two defenders with his signature 4.6 40-yard-dash speed and tucked one inside the left post, sending the game into a shootout en route to a regional championship days later.
"He wanted to get back out there," Jacobs defensive mid Chris Rigby said. "The fact he did it with a thing in his nose and puts it all away with that finishing touch really helps us as a team. That just showed everyone just how good he actually is."
"Game in and game in out he can go on these drives downfield and beat three or four kids," teammate and childhood friend Nick Voss said. "You just watch and marvel in how he has the ability to just beat multiple kids in one drive and he doesn't get tired."
Teammates obsess over his endurance, as Melick's speed never wavered near the 100th minute. Even when a hip and a groin injury limited his minutes at one point this season, he never doubted his teammates to pick him up as Melick's only interested in his team winning. For his unselfish efforts, gusto and his 18 goals and 10 assists, the speedster didn't just run away with being named the Honorary Co-Captain of the Daily Herald's Fox Valley All-Area boys soccer team, it was already painted red onto that No. 6 jersey. Melick shares the award with senior Alex Amro of St. Charles North.
"This kid's in it for the group, he's willing to battle through whatever it takes to get the group the results they want," Cappello said of the first Jacobs boys athlete since Jeff Diehl in 2002 to earn the honor. "Just for an individual to have an impact on the game, and not create chances for himself but create for others - in that 6-2 Elgin regional win he had 2 assists - with all that put together he's absolutely one of the most dangerous players in the area that we've seen."
But the best accomplishment to Melick wasn't that he was able to improve his accuracy or that many around the area labeled him as "dangerous," it was Jacobs' first regional title since 2011, after a 5-16-1 record last year.
"My team's drive and motivation is off the charts, and I really love that," Melick said. "I care more for my team than I how I play. I want the team to play very well together because I know we have a group of 22 guys and if I have an off game someone can step up for me and play their butts off and do something special."
"That's what kind of what makes him go and carries the weight of his team on his shoulders," Cappello added. "He wants that responsibility not for himself but to help the group achieve what they want to achieve. I mean, coming in as a freshman, you have some come in with a big ego that can play at that age and he hasn't shown any signs of that."
Melick admits he has to improve on his left foot and leadership skills while Cappello urges the need to improve technically with his feet in tight spaces and his back to the goal. But what makes a huge soccer fan who enjoys FIFA video game tournaments with his teammates the player he is so early in his career?
"You don't have to spend much time having to revisit the same idea; he's very easy to progress," said Cappello. "The sky's the limit with him. When he starts working on some of the technical work with his speed, you're going to see next year that he's much more dangerous in different roles."
Melick also runs the 3,200-and 1,600-meter relays in track, the latter which broke a school record last spring. He pushes himself to the same beat, even if it's not soccer. But Melick wants to become the best player he can be, so his sophomore track season is up in the air in effort to achieve his ultimate dream of playing professional soccer.
"He's the one running four days a week in the offseason," Voss said. "It carries over when we're in season running sprints and that's part of the reason why he's winning, because he puts in the work."
Which is evident in school and his friendships. He's only had one C grade the past 2 years, and when he and his role model Rigby weren't on the same page last season, ultimately, he hoped to see that relationship bloom.
"Over summer practices is where it gelled," Rigby added. "Seeing the skill he had and someone could head in my crosses it really made us a good combination with each other. And not only us doing that combination down the field, it just helped overall and made our bond a lot stronger on the field than I thought it would be. We were one of the better friends on the field."
Even ALITHSA Arsenal club coach Dean Smith, the Elgin Community College men's soccer coach who's coached Melick since he was 7, endorses his work ethic. "He's a mentally tough kid," Smith said. "He doesn't walk around and screams and shouts verbally, he just goes about his business in a ridiculous fashion, and he's got the athletic ability and technical ability to back it up."
And to think, he's still got two more years left to really get things on frame.