DELAWARE – Reese Laaksonen tried a lot of different things growing up.
She danced, took ballet and even tried karate. She didn’t like some of them. Others were a comedy of errors.
Nothing resonated with her the way soccer did.
“When I was around 4 (years old), maybe, my parents tried (to get me into) different things,” Laaksonen said. “(I tried) different things like dance (and) ballet. I just didn’t like it.
“I tried for karate for a day and I quit,” she said. “My brother was super good at it, so I tried it but I got there and accidentally called the girl instructor, ‘Sir.’ So, that was super embarrassing.
“I tried soccer, and it just came naturally to me.”
Now a senior midfielder, Laaksonen has solidified herself with the Delaware Hayes girls soccer team.
Laaksonen, who was first-team all-state, all-district and all-league last year after scoring eight goals and adding five assists, is the facilitator of a Pacer team that is thriving under new coach Jim Daugherty.
Delaware is off to a 5-1-2 heading into a home match against Lexington on Sept. 12.
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The Pacers are 2-0-1 and lead the OCC-Capital Division after defeating Worthington Kilbourne 5-0 on Sept. 9. They came up just short on a third consecutive league title last season, finishing 4-0-2 — one point behind Westerville North (5-1, 15 points).
Heading into their matchup against the Wolves, senior forward Mady Haser has three goals and an assist and junior forward Khloe White and senior midfielder/forward Harlow Dye each have two goals and three assists to lead Delaware.
Senior defender Macy Pearch leads a backline in front of senior goalie Chloe Skeens (25 saves) that have helped the Pacers to four shutouts in their eight matches this season.
Laaksonen has two goals and an assist with both goals coming in a 3-1 victory at Olentangy Orange on Sept. 3.
“(Laaksonen is) very crafty with the ball,” Daugherty said. “She’s very good in the air off either corner kicks or free kicks or punts or whatever. She’s a facilitator (that) gets everyone involved.”
Laaksonen is not afraid of playing physically, something she credits to playing on boys and mixed-gender teams growing up.
She spent most of her youth playing under coach Brant Dye with the Delaware Knights club team.
When Daugherty replaced Bradd Smiley, who had coached the Pacers for 11 seasons, it forced Laaksonen and her teammates to deal with something they hadn’t really had to do before: change.
“Especially for a lot of us who are about to go to college – getting the experience with the change and dealing with whatever gets thrown our way … it’s a big thing,” Laaksonen said.
“I think (the adjustment) is mostly for him because we, as a group, we’re all very close. I feel like he had to get used to us. (He’s) getting used to us and the way we play.”
Daugherty coached at Orange from 2014-16 and was a goalkeeper coach at Purdue for four seasons prior to that.
“It’s a little bit harder to get to know the players that are playing high-level club soccer,” Daugherty said. “So, during tryouts, that’s when I (was) definitely trying to get to know them as players and trying to get to know them as a person, too.
“I’m trying to get them to know how I see the game and how I would like them to play and then adapt it to their style.”
Daugherty’s biggest emphasis has been trying to get the players to stay in the moment and not look too far ahead. He’s set no long terms goals for the team this season.
“I think sometimes we still get ahead of ourselves and have to remind each other (that it’s) one game at a time,” Laaksonen said.
