After a difficult season where West Boca Raton failed to win a fourth consecutive girls district soccer championship and finished with a 3-11-1 record, Nikole Solis was determined to make sure her senior year was better.
Solis, who recently committed with Florida International University, scored a county-high 31 goals and seven assists in 16 games as the Bulls (14-3-1) won the district title this year and eventually fell in the Class 6A regional semifinal to St. Thomas.
“We got a lot of new players this year and that created a lot of better scoring chances, including me,” said Solis, who for her previous three seasons only scored 20 goals combined.
The two-year captain had six goals in her junior year; 11 in her sophomore year and three in her freshman year. Of her goals this season, she said scoring what proved to be the winning goal against rival Olympic Heights in the district final was the highlight of her career.
“I had the confidence, and it was mainly just staying calm when I had those chances,” said Solis, who bagged four goals against Wellington, St. John Paul II Academy, and Royal Palm Beach in addition to three against Park Vista and Suncoast. She also and scored twice in the regional quarterfinal win against Cooper City.
“It was a pretty new team this year and a new coach and everyone wanted to go pretty far,” she said. “I had the feeling that we had that chance this year.”
West Boca Raton coach C.J. Weiss said Solis was a key part of the success of the Bulls this season.
“Nikole was paramount to the team’s success, especially in big games,” Weiss said. “Everyone looks to a confident leader when faced against strong opposition, she gave the team that confidence. She has the ability to lead a team to championship victories and other players around her better.
“Her work rate was tremendous,” Weiss added. “She genuinely believed she deserved to play D1 soccer. That goal and desire played a huge role in her overall performance.”
