NAVARRE, Ohio — It was another day and another goal for Gracie Ashton as her soccer squad took on a fellow PAC-7 school. Only this goal was a little different, even for Ashton. It was her 100th career goal and it puts her into the unofficial high school girls soccer record books. She’s one of the youngest ever to get to 100 goals as she still has her senior season ahead of her. For now, while Ashton is happy with her milestone, she isn’t stopping there.

Her century-mark goal came a couple of weeks ago, but that didn’t slow her down. Since then, she’s added 12 more goals, including five in one game just last week. That puts her total at 112 for her career and 44 on the season. With one game left, Ashton is hoping to reach 45 goals on the season. This was, no pun intended, a goal that she set for herself at the start of the year.

“I was trying to shoot for 50 goals this year when the season began. I think a more realistic number is 45,” Ashton said in a recent interview. She also said that reaching her 100th goal was a weight off her mind.

“I actually felt a lot of relief after I scored the goal,” she added. “I was starting to feel a lot of pressure and I started to wonder when or if it was going to happen. Scoring that goal kind of got that off my mind. It was nice to have a quick celebration with my teammates and just get back to playing.”

To get put into the OHSAA unofficial state record books, you need to have 110 career goals, and Ashton is already past that point. And she’s only a junior! If she keeps improving and scoring goals at the rate she’s currently playing, she could have well over 150 goals in her career.

It hasn’t always come easy for Ashton. She spends a ton of time both in season and out of season working on her speed and offensive moves. That hard work is paying off so far for Ashton and her teammates.

Scoring goals and setting personal records isn’t all that’s on Ashton’s mind, however. In fact, it’s taking a back seat to her number one goal of getting the Falcons back into the PAC-7 district finals. She led them there last year as a sophomore, and at 10-4 they’re well on their way this year. They’re also 7-3 in league play and have one more game to go on Saturday. With Ashton leading the way, the sky’s the limit for the Fairless Falcons.

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