Advosports

Jessica Mickey nets a lot of goals for the Warriors. Admittedly, she remembers a lot of them.

But to her, a goal is a goal.

"I remember a lot of them, but I wouldn't say that one is better than the other," she said.

Except for one type, those in which team work produces a work of art.

"Whenever we work together as a team," said the senior for Victoria West. "Whenever someone crosses it in and we get a goal off of someone's assist, not necessarily someone dribbling it up."

She's perfectly capable of scoring that way, too. And a variety of other ways also.

Mickey has paced the Warriors all season long, netting an astonishing 30 goals with six hat tricks this season in her final season of high school soccer.

And she gets them all sorts of ways. On breakaways, on headers in front of the net, while cleaning up rebounds and off of penalty kicks near and far.

Yes, Mickey has a talent for finding the back of the net early and often - and in key situations, too - but it's her ability to make the players around her better that makes her such an asset to the team, said Warriors coach Denys McCarter.

"She's bound and determined," McCarter said. "Yes, she is our leading scorer, but she loves to give other players a chance to score.

"She tries to get down there and us up and set other girls up. It's her speed that really deadly up there."

Mickey came into her senior season with one goal entering this season: to top her 2010 performance.

"I set a goal before the season that I wanted to have more than I did last year," Mickey said. "When taking a shot, I just try to focus on it and if I miss I don't give up."

The senior sets the tone for the Warriors offense, and for the rest of the team. She is a vocal leader, said coach Denys McCarter. Along with Nereyda Martinez, Mickey has helped guide an otherwise young Warriors squad through the perils of district play to second place and a matchup Friday with Kingsville in the playoffs.

"She gets out here, getting them into the drills and getting them to run the drills," McCarter said. "She has a strong character. Her competitive edge makes her deadly. ... From watching her grow up from a freshman to now, it's her competitive nature that sets her apart."

Mickey is committed to attend Texas Tech University in Lubbock next fall, but athletics so far isn't part of the plan.

The senior said she plans to study pre-med with the hopes of becoming a pediatrician one day.

That means athletics will take a back seat. Sort of.

"I'll probably just stick to intermurals," Mickey said.

What about walking on to the soccer team?

"I thought about it, but I kind of want to focus on my academics," she said.

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