Faith Gober of Donelson Christian Academy (Nashville, Tenn.) is a goal-scoring machine. The junior has 52 goals and 31 assists in just 22 games.
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knows how to score goals.
When the soccer ball is on her foot, make no mistake about it, Gober is putting it into the back of the net.
Her numbers were eye-popping this season as a junior on the
Donelson Christian Academy (Nashville, Tenn.) girls soccer team, racking up 52 goals and 31 assists. That's a pretty amazing feat for just 22 matches.
"I've been blessed with the ability to score," said Gober, who amassed 21 goals in the first seven games this season. "But at the same time, what comes with great power comes great responsibility. That's what my mom has engraved in my brain growing up.
"I am very humble and even though I do get some attention all the time, it never really affects me."
What makes the 16-year-old such a big-time scorer?
"She can do it a bunch of ways is probably the big thing," DCA girls soccer coach Matt Smith said. "She's got really good ability to create space for herself; she reads the game really well. She can head it and she can strike it with both feet. And she's got a really good ability to get away from defenders. All those things together made her really dangerous."
According to Smith, Gober could have easily tallied 100 goals this season. One hundred? That's unfathomable.
"I never allowed her to have more than three goals a game against a weaker team," Smith said. "She scores legitimate goals. That's a credit to her, she never asks to pump up her stats."
Normally a forward/midfielder, Gober would move over to defense when her team was up big to allow her teammates to notch some goals.
"I do my best to give my teammates the credit they deserve," Gober said. "It's always fun watching your teammates that don't normally play forward, play forward and do the best they can to score."
Gober is a team-first player, playing defender
in blowouts to get her teammates scoring chances.
Photo courtesy of Hodges & Powell Photography
Gober, who is averaging 2.09 goals per game for her career, has been a dominant player all four years she's been a varsity starter. Instead of competing at the middle school level in eighth grade, she was notching goals on the varsity squad. She has earned All-District and All-Region team honors the last three years and was Tennessee All-State and All-Midstate last season. All-State hasn't been announced yet for this year, but Gober figures to be a shoo-in.
Gober heads into senior season next year chasing not only the school record in goals, but also a number of state records. For her career, she has 157 goals, which ranks her in the top 10 in Tennessee history, to go along with 84 assists. Gober is five assists away from the state and school record held by Courtney Dunlap, who played at DCA from 1999-2003. The state record for career goals is 215, so Gober is 58 shy. She is just 27 goals away from tying Dunlap's school record of 184 goals.
Since she's nearly unstoppable on the field, it's not uncommon for Gober to be double- or triple-teamed by opposing teams. No reason to fret, Gober always finds a way to get her points.
Gober really emerged as a leader this season to the younger players on her team. Being an upperclassman, Gober knew that was her job.
"One of the games we were struggling at halftime and I said my little piece and then I opened it up and asked if any of the players had anything to say to get this going," Smith said. "She took control right there and spoke for like 30 seconds. I told her after the game, ‘Those 30 seconds were more powerful and more meaningful to the girls than anything I would say at halftime.' "
Along with playing high school soccer, Gober competes on the club circuit for the top team in the state, Tennessee Soccer Club. Playing at the elite level and facing some of the top players from around the country has helped Gober become more of a well-rounded athlete.
In addition to soccer, Gober plays basketball.
She will be on court this season
after taking her sophomore year off.
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"The competition going from a small-town team to traveling all across the country for TSC has definitely impacted me, because I'm playing with the best players across the state," Gober said. "It's excellent coaching, excellent teammates."
Gober is also a good basketball player, starting on the DCA varsity team as an eighth- and ninth-grader. Last year, she took off from the sport because of soccer commitments. But the point guard is back on the court this season.
Even though she's so busy with athletics, Gober makes sure she excels in the classroom. She has a 3.8 grade point average and is taking two dual-enrollment courses through her high school and a local college.
Gober is extremely involved with clubs at her school, serving on student council, National Honor Society, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Youth Excelling in Learning Leadership (Y.E.L.L.) and as a student ambassador. Gober, who was the class president as a freshman and sophomore, is big into her church's youth group, too. Through her church, Gober volunteers for such activities as Habitat for Humanity.
She enjoys giving back to her community.
"Growing up, whenever people would give back and I'd see that, I thought, ‘That's what I want to do,' " she said.
After next year, Gober will be continuing her education and soccer career at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. Gober got to know the school's current woman's soccer coach Gavin McKinney when he coached at Cumberland University and ran camps. Gober went for an official visit to UT-Chattanooga in January and gave a verbal commitment to the school in October.
"I just kind of realized it was a great fit for me," Gober said. "He's been there since Day 1. He's watched me grow as a player, as a person, as a young woman and I just couldn't thank him enough."
Gober is extremely excited she'll get a shot to play Division I soccer.
"I'm really proud of myself for having this accomplishment, and I could not be more blessed," she said.
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Gober is verbally committed to the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga for soccer. Her choice, she says, was made easier after getting to know the coach at various camps.
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