Nevada Preps Girls Athlete of the Week: Liberty’s Danica Key
It’s one thing to have one match that particularly stands out. Liberty junior forward Danica Key had that.
It’s another to be consistent and score in three consecutive soccer matches. Key did that, too.
After producing seven goals in three matches — with an eye-popping four-goal performance — she was named the Nevada Preps Girls Athlete of the Week.
Breaking it down, Key scored a goal in a 3-2 victory over Las Vegas High, had those four goals in a 6-1 win over Sierra Vista and totaled two goals in a 3-3 tie with Shadow Ridge.
Key isn’t exactly a newcomer to the sport. She began playing at age 3, first competing in a recreation league before joining the Real Henderson club team while in elementary school. Key switched to Albion SC in 2019.
She said her long stint with Real is “what shaped me to be the soccer player I am.”
She plays and practices high school and club soccer at the same time because club is year round. It’s quite a balancing act, but Key prioritizes club because that’s the level college scouts tend to emphasize in their evaluations. At this point, most of her recruiting interest has come from Division II and III schools.
“It can be a lot physically, but I know it’s definitely important to get to club practice,” Key said. “If that means taking it easier in high school practice, that’s definitely what I’ll do. But I try to get to both (practices) as much as possible, and I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job.”
Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.