BRUNSWICK – After scoring a team-high 30 goals last fall to help Brunswick win its first Class A girls’ soccer state championship in five years, you would think Allison Walton had found a permanent home in the Dragons’ forward line.
You would be wrong.
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This season, Walton is bringing her skills to midfield.
“Personally, I just want to help my team out any way I can,” Walton said. “Last year it was being up front and looking to score goals to get us on top in games. This year I’m looking to have more of a distributive role, and that’s perfectly fine with me.”
But Walton, in her fourth season in the starting lineup, will have the green light to take the ball forward and score.
“This year she’s mainly midfield but with intentions to go all over the field,” Brunswick Coach Martyn Davidson said. “She’s got kind of a free role to go wherever she wants because she’s so dominant.”
To Walton, the move is an opportunity to learn something new about soccer.
“I’m excited to play a new position and change it up a little bit,” she said. “Playing different positions on the field makes you a better player.”
Davidson said Walton always wants to improve.
“She’s a sponge,” he said. “She learns off everybody. She’s so keen to do well. She wants to be a perfectionist at soccer so she’s trying to grab all the information she can learn from everybody, which is great.”
Walton, who verbally committed to Providence College last March, has played for club teams since the second grade. Yet she still listens to what her high school coach has to say.
“She’s very good at listening and she’ll accept what I tell her,” Davidson said. “Some kids play for you for four years and when they become a senior they’ve kind of heard everything you have to say. She still listens and tries to learn from it.”
Walton, the daughter of a naval officer, began playing as a 3-year-old in Washington state. Starting at 10, she has participated in Olympic development programs in Maine and Virginia.
“It’s great to have Allie with you,” said Brunswick defender Megan Elliott, who began playing club soccer with Walton when they were in the second grade. “She knows all these tips that she can give you. Her advice and constructive criticism are really great to hear. You really respect her for all the things she’s done, and she just kind of helps everybody out.
“She doesn’t have to play down to anybody’s level. She helps us play up, basically. She’ll go anywhere. She’ll play any position. It’s really great to have someone around like her. She’s a real good role model for the younger girls.”
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:
pbetit@pressherald.com
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