Girls soccer: WW South's Miller won't get pushed around again

Being pushed around, knocked down and even face planted seems like a rude welcome for any freshman, but teams like to deliver a firm warning to the most talented newcomers, letting them know that they're not going to just walk onto the field and do whatever they please.

Paige Miller doesn't forget such an unfriendly greeting. Her opponents likely won't forget what she did against them this spring.

Without a doubt Miller paid her dues as a freshman as she adjusted to the physical and hard-nosed nature of playing against girls who were bigger, stronger and older than her. That's the way it is in the rugged DuPage Valley Conference, where kids fight harder for 50/50 balls than they do with their parents about curfew. Still, she made a huge impression as a freshman with 11 goals and 5 assists.

If anything, playing varsity as a freshman made the junior stronger, which was evident in how she performed this spring, helping the Tigers enjoy one of their finest seasons in recent memory. Their successes included winning their first regional title in five years, a runner-up effort to St. Charles North in the Army Bracket of the PepsiCo Showdown, retaining the Wheaton Cup and collecting 15 wins overall.

Miller was vital to the aforementioned team accomplishments, scoring 13 goals and adding 11 assists to push her varsity totals to 44 goals and 22 assists. She won the DuPage Valley Conference Golden Boot Award as its top scorer.

She has been named captain of the Daily Herald DuPage County All-Area girls soccer team.

"I think her moments came in big opportunities, the times we really needed her," Tigers coach Guy Callipari said. "Her run in the Pepsi where she scored in every game, including the final and in the DVC where she scored 7 goals. She's a lot more confident in the final third and the 1v1 environment. At times she took a little more on her back. She wasn't required to do it, but she was capable of doing it and looked for those opportunities and maybe pushed a little more and could make something happen out of nothing."

She produced regularly and was thrilling to watch.

"There are days she is not the best player on the field," Callipari said. "But she is always the most exciting, especially in 1v1 environments in the final third."

Growth with experience

Without a doubt a couple years of seasoning allowed Miller to contribute better than ever.

"Coming in as a freshman, I didn't know what to expect after playing club for a lot of my life," she said. "I learned quickly that it was definitely physical and I did get banged around a bit. Comparing it to club, it's a little less technical and a lot more physical but it was just something that I had to adjust to as a player."

The adjustment was pretty much seamless, which really wasn't surprising since Miller has succeeded at the game whenever and wherever she's played it.

"I'm fortunately blessed with speed which is something that I use to my advantage, and I think I see the game better now than I used to," she said. "Early on, the coaches I had taught me the technical pieces of the sport and I think I've got the mental aspect of the game down and am able to play the game in the right mindset."

Maria Dohse has played alongside Miller for a number of years, including before high school, and considers Miller her best friend. She also suffered through the inconsistent results in 2017 but stuck around and helped turn it into a lot of winning this year. A lot of that had to do with Miller leading the offense.

"Last year we had trouble scoring and I think this year, Paige really helped get the team to connect and when she was able to get the ball she was able to do her thing," she said. "Our attitude changed this year and none of us wanted to be on a team that people overlooked, we wanted to go and win so we worked hard at it."

A competitor

Make no mistake, Miller's always had the desire to compete and to win.

"She's kind of the same player on and off the field," Dohse said. "She's not a mean player, but she's aggressive. She's nice and joking around before the game, but when it's time to play she's all serious, but once the game is over she goes back to how she was and we're just friends, laughing and having fun."

It was difficult to predict what the Tigers were going to do this spring. There was talent that was carrying over on the roster, but the team struggled with a 9-10-1 season in 2017 with it and whimpered out at the very end, losing five of their last six games. One had to wonder if there would there be more of the same.

"Overall I think we had a good season and a really good run although I wish we could've gone farther," Miller said. "We just didn't finish our chances and things like that. We started out strong and were super motivated all year and we kept pushing that hard work intensity all season long, but unfortunately it had to come to an end."

It was extremely gratifying for the Tigers to see that success regularly after seeing flashes of it the year before.

"I'm so proud of my team this year," Miller said. "We went out there and worked our hardest and played the best soccer that we could."

While she's not looking too far ahead, Miller is enjoying the comfort that comes with knowing her college plans are all wrapped up. She's committed to Northwestern.

"It's kind of a relief to have all of that out of the way because I know others are still dealing with that college stress," she said. "It was a long process. It consumed a lot of time beginning in eighth grade and freshman and sophomore year in making those visits and ID camps and trying to figure things out. It was time consuming but really worth it now."

Now, though, she's focused on senior year in Wheaton and is excited to take the team a step or two further.

"It's kind of scary how fast it goes by because it seems like just yesterday I was looking up to the seniors and now I'm one of the older girls on the team," she said. "I know there's still room for me to grow. I could work on finishing and my defensive skills. I could never go too long without soccer so I'll be putting in the extra work. For me it's always more fun than bothersome."