AUBURN —  All it takes is a little hesitation or a momentary pause.

Once a defender does that against the St. Dom’s girls’ soccer team, they’ll likely be watching Faith Grady burst on past them.

The Saints senior forward has burned many a defender with her quickness and ability to accelerate. As much as that’s been an asset to her game, Grady wanted something more this season.

“At the beginning of the year, our coach made us write down our individual goals,” Grady said. “I’m pretty fast. A lot of teams know that. This year, I wanted to work on my footwork and my skills and everything. I think I’m progressively getting better, but I still have a ways to go.”

Grady was the Saints’ leading scorer last year and is doing the same this fall. She’s already scored 13 goals and had four assists. St. Dom’s as a team has scored 25 goals in eight games.

“She’s developed more as a player from last year,” said St. Dom’s coach Alicia Pelletier. “I’m pretty happy with what I’m seeing. It’s not just speed anymore. She has a couple of moves, and she’s looking to cross. It’s not just the one thing anymore. She’s working on all aspects of her game. You can’t ask for a better player than that. She’s someone who is constantly working and constantly trying to better herself every time she’s out there.”

Last week alone, Grady had back-to-back hat tricks. She scored three in a win over Boothbay and then had three goals and an assist in a 4-1 win over Dirigo. She also had the only goal in a 1-0 win over Lisbon.

Grady says experience and understanding the game better has been a significant help. Having the skills to match is an added benefit.

“It’s all about reading and knowing how the goalie acts,” Grady said. “All goalies are different. Some stay near the goal. So I know I need to take more outside shots. If they come out, I know I need to tap around. It’s really about how the goalies play and how the defenses are.”

Grady’s provided the Saints a much-needed presence this year.

St. Dom’s lost a number of key players and leaders from last year, including Kelly Pomerleau, the Mountain Valley’s Conference’s Player of the Year and an all-state selection. Grady knew as one of the veterans that the Saints needed her to deliver.

“With the number of seniors we have, we knew we had to be leaders out on the field,” Grady said. “We had to make up for the players that we lost. We knew we had to pick it up.”

Many of the seniors anchor the Saints; defense. Sam Ladd, Hailey Eason, Kym Johnson and Jacqueline Schmitz have been solid in front of new goalie Nicole Robitaille, also a senior.

St. Dom’s has only allowed seven goals. Grady, along with Kirsten Conner, provides most of the experience up front.

“She leads by example and she leads by determination,” said Pelletier. “She’s always there. She might not be a captain, but she certainly leads by what she does on the field.”

There’s a little more responsibility as one of the team’s top players, but Grady really isn’t in a role that’s different from what she’s done in the past. She’s just trying to find ways to improve.

“A lot of us stayed in the positions that we grew up playing,” Grady said. “So it wasn’t much of a change, but we all knew that we had individual goals to work on and team goals to work on.”

One of Grady’s long-term goals is to play in college. She’s a standout basketball player for the Saints as well as one of their top track athletes. It is soccer she’s hoping to play in some capacity in the future.

“I would like to play college soccer,” Grady said. “That’s really the only sport that I want to pursue.”

Grady isn’t sure yet what her college plans may be. She’s heard from a couple of schools but is still working through that process.

“I’ve been looking for sports, but now I’m trying to focus on academics,” Grady said. “It’s rattling.”

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