Wondering if Verona senior midfielder Alex Melin is back at full strength after missing last season with a torn ACL in her knee?
I asked Madison Memorial coach Ben Voss, whose Spartans dealt the Wildcats their first loss with a 2-1 overtime decision in a Big Eight Conference match last Tuesday, that question the other day.
"Melin's the best player in the state, for sure," he said of the Iowa recruit, who was a second-team all-state selection by the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association as a sophomore.
Voss then went a step further.
"I told (Wildcats coach) Matt (Heilman) this, and I've told other people this ... I'm dead serious in saying that she would have started for our boys team," said Voss, who coached the Spartans boys team to the WIAA Division 1 state final last fall. "Her and (Memorial all-state forward Lucas) Cardona up top would have been unbeliveable."
Melin has six goals and three assists for second-ranked Verona (6-1 overall), which has beaten No. 3 Brookfield East, No. 8 Middleton, No. 9 Waunakee and Madison Edgewood – ranked fourth in Division 2.
"She's just so physical, nobody is able to push her off the ball," said Voss, whose team has a backline anchored by all-state returnee Abby Beinlich. "You have to draw so much attention to her. ... Right now, she's my player of the year."
The fifth-ranked Spartans (6-1), who have won six in a row after losing their season opener to Brookfield East, play host to No. 4 Whitefish Bay (8-0) at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Mansfield Stadium.
To me, part of the fun of following soccer across the world are the shirts, the flashes of color on the field.
