Lakes’ Braelyn Carey one of WA’s top goal scorers this fall. Her season will end soon
Braelyn Carey was scheduled to have season-ending surgery this week, but the procedure was delayed as surgery supplies have been sent south in recent weeks for Hurricane Milton relief efforts.
Carey, a star player on the Lakes High School girls soccer team, played anyway against Peninsula. Hobbled, beaten up, but far from broken, she notched a pair of assists in a 2-2 draw, despite moving to the right back position to limit her workload. Normally, she plays forward.
Carey is one of the state’s best goal scorers this fall, across all classifications in Washington. She’s ranked No. 2 in the state in goals, per MaxPreps, with 28 scored in 12 games played, averaging more than two goals per game. She has six games with three or more goals scored, scoring four goals on four separate occasions already this season.
Her season will come to an end any day now, which is a shame, because Carey has been electric in front of the opposing net.
“I know that I have a lot more to give, even though I’m hurt,” Carey said before practice on Wednesday. “I still feel like I have more to give and I wouldn’t feel right with myself if I didn’t at least give it a try.”
And try she has. Carey was diagnosed with a labrum tear in her left hip two months ago. All season, she has been playing hurt, fighting through throbbing pain whenever she breaks into a sprint.
“It’s a superhero effort, what she puts out there,” Lakes coach Jeremy Cosio said. “I feel like I’m in a movie. … (In the first meeting) against Peninsula, she was able to muster four goals (in a 5-4 loss) with a bad hip and just a right leg. It’s just insane.”
The torn labrum has essentially made Carey a one-legged player. She takes all her shots with her right foot right now. Doing anything with her left leg is too painful.
“I can’t really use my left anymore because I can’t really get around the ball anymore,” she said.
Despite the physical pain and limitations, Carey has still been one of the state’s best goal scorers this year. That’s largely because of her unique speed.
“It’s the first step breakaway that she has,” Cosio said. “As soon as she takes that first step, she’s already one to two body lengths ahead of the defender. That breakaway speed can’t be taught, she’s just a natural at it.”
Her soccer IQ and normally, her ability to use both feet — she’s hampered in that regard currently — also set her apart from her peers. Several of her goals this season have come during opponent throw-ins, where Carey anticipates where the throwing is going, intercepts it and breaks loose to score a goal.
“She kind of knows where the ball is going to go and when to make certain runs, when to make a certain touch,” Cosio said.
Carey dominates in 1v1 situations, but doesn’t see many at this point in the season. It’s usually 1v3 or 1v4, now that opponents have game-planned around her.
Carey’s goal is to get to 30 goals this season before she has season-ending surgery, whenever that comes. Thirty just happens to be her jersey number.
“If I get to 30, I’ll probably be satisfied and then wait for my surgery,” she said.
And if her surgery gets delayed further? She’ll take it one day at a time.
“I try to take it game by game” she said. “If I want to keep playing, I’ll keep playing.”
The expected recovery timeline is five to six months, post surgery. Assuming it happens in the coming weeks, before the high school soccer postseason rolls around, Cosio and the team will miss her.
“She’s a big part of why we’ve been successful this year,” Cosio said. “But this team as a whole, we’re battled tested. The sophomores have been together the last three years. We’ve had state runs, playoff runs. So we have a good group that can get us through without Braelyn.”
Carey has recruiting interest from UCF (Florida), Portland State, Boise State, Idaho and others.
