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Summer Stevens has plenty of unfinished business ahead on the soccer pitch, but there’s certainly not a whole lot more the First Flight High School senior could have done throughout her prep career.

After helping the Nighthawks win another conference championship and reach the third round of the NC High School Athletic Association 3A playoffs, Stevens capped her FFHS career as the school’s all-time leading goal scorer with 117 goals and as the all-time points leader with 266 (counting goals and assists). Additionally, the 43 goals Stevens scored this season is the single-season record.

What’s remarkable, said head coach Joel Mount, is that Stevens found the back of the net so often this year in spite of being constantly marked by opposing defenders and having more offensive-minded teammates. The Nighthawks averaged more than five goals per game in their 20-3 campaign.

“She is the most physically defended player on the field and she handles that well,” Mount said. “The last three years she had the primary responsibility of scoring goals and was counted on to produce a lot of our offense, but this year she had more help.”

Certainly one of the highlights of Stevens’ senior season came against rival Manteo. She found the back of the net twice in that key 2-0 road victory, including her 100th career goal. Stevens also scored two goals against MHS in a 3-1 home win earlier in the season.

“The favorite moment I had with Summer was when she scored against Manteo – she hadn’t scored against Manteo until her senior year,” Mount said. “So those four goals – including her 100th – it was a great moment for her because those are people she’s been friends with, competes with, and they just have that rivalry against each other.”

Additionally, as a center-forward, Stevens wouldn’t necessarily be expected to carry the team’s scoring load, but that never stopped her from leading the way.

“She’s a midfielder who’s playing forward and it’s amazing what she’s done over the past four years,” Mount said. “She’s the hardest-working person on the field and what stands out the most from freshman to senior year is her commitment to get better. She’s the harshest critic of her own game, but it’s driven her to improve.”

That drive is taking Stevens to the collegiate level. She signed with Ferrum College, an NCAA Division II school in Virginia, where she’ll join a solid squad that went 13-5-1 last year. In an interview with Nighthawk News Magazine, Stevens said she’ll take plenty of fond memories with her.

“My family has definitely been my biggest influence throughout my soccer career. My dad played college soccer and has pretty much always been my coach, so he has really helped me,” Stevens told the student newspaper. “My family has made a lot of sacrifices over the years and I’m really appreciative of everything they’ve done for me. I’ve also had really great teammates over the years, and I’m thankful for all the ways they’ve helped me.”

There’s no doubt her Nighthawk teammates will miss her in the coming years. The NCC Player of the Year and three-time All-Region selection has raised the bar for the program and established impressive records for younger players to shoot for.

“She’s a great teammate, interacts really well with everybody,” Mount said. “Summer is quiet and doesn’t talk a lot, but she’s very much a lead-by-example type. If you’re looking for her to be vocal and make a speech, that’s not her, but if you want to point out somebody and say, ‘That’s how you need to do it’ – that’s her.”

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