Fair Grove soccer made it to the final four for the first time in the program’s history, and a key player on this Eagles team has been there from the start.
“I’ve had Maicol [Newkirk] all four years and as a freshman he was thrown into the mix and scored like 18 goals his freshman year. Then the next year he scored in the twenties, the next year in the upper twenties, and this year he’s got 42 I think,” said Eagles head coach Joseph Florez. “He’s grown every year, but he’s been our guy every year.”
“A lot of it is just my team that gets me the ball. I know I’m good, but my team just makes me ten times better, so without my team I don’t think I could do it,” said Fair Grove senior Maicol Newkirk.
Maicol has 42 goals heading into the final four, and is responsible for a total of 55 points this year, which means there are plenty of people scoring goals for Fair Grove, making the Eagles one of the toughest teams in Class 1.
“He’s quick, he’s got good ball skills, he’s unselfish at times, that’s why Kyle has 43 goals, because Maicol has assists too. And when you’re unselfish the deep defenses can’t just triple team you get your chances,” Florez said.
Newkirk and company have been waiting on this moment since they joined the team and making it to the final four has put them on cloud nine.
“It means a lot because this has never happened to us, and this being my last year, I knew I had to do something special, and we did something special as a team,” Newkirk said.
