When junior outside midfielder Mackenzie Nolte’s mom suggested she should try soccer after gymnastics became too expensive, a very young Nolte did not like the idea very much.

“I’m like, ‘No I don’t think I’ll like it,’” Nolte said.

Luckily, Nolte listened to her mom because she’s been playing soccer since she was 6 years old.

Like most kids starting out, she played recreational soccer for the first three seasons before making the not-so-easy transition to club soccer. Nolte joined her first club soccer team when she was 9 years old, and did not play very much and the head coach did not even know her name.

Nolte then joined another select team when she was 14 years old. She really liked the coach, but he could not help her grow anymore as a player.

Her friend encouraged Nolte to join Snohomish United soccer team, where the same problem occurred.

Nolte joined Northwest Nationals Premier Soccer Club for her final year before college soccer. She felt like she grew a lot as a soccer player under head coach Scott Newman. Their team won the state championship and lost in the semi-finals of regionals.

Newman has also coached three other CWU soccer players: junior midfielder Alyssa Navlet, junior defender Shaina Mitchell and sophomore defender Emily Minogue.

“Our team only had one sub every game, so everyone on the team, we

all had to do everything we could every game,” Mitchell said. “Mackenzie I don’t think ever got subbed out of the game.”

Nolte played for Marysville-Pilchuck High School, where she called it “sort of competitive.” She worked well with Amanda Klep, who was a striker for Concordia University, before injuries eventually barred Klep from playing.

“We were always encouraging each other and pushing each other to do better and I grew a lot because of her,” Nolte said. “I looked up to her as a player, I wanted to be just as good as

Amanda, I wanted to keep up with her.”

In Nolte’s junior year of high school, she began to find her true spot on the soccer field as an outside midfielder with an emphasis in attacking.

“The goals started coming and I found my love for attacking,” Nolte said.

Nolte played all four years on the  varsity soccer team, making the second team all league as a junior and first team as a senior.

While Nolte considered Seattle Pacific University and Western Washington University, she knew exactly where she wanted to go.

“I didn’t have any strong interest to go anywhere else” besides CWU, Nolte said.

She liked how Ellensburg was centrally located in the state, not too far from her hometown of Marysville.

When head coach Michael Farrand talked to Nolte about joining the Wildcats, he was honest about what she would have to do.

“One of the first things we told her, if she came to us she’d have to work harder because her technical skills didn’t match our game,” Farrand said. “Mackenzie’s physical attributes far outweigh most the girls she matches up with, so that part of the game is pretty easy for her. Here…possession-counterattack requires more thinking and a lot more play off the ball, which is something she didn’t have to do at the club level.”

Nolte agrees that her freshman year was rough because she had to adjust to being on such a technical team.

“I had to work really hard and it almost felt like I was learning a whole new language in a whole different sport because the way he plays and teaches us is different than any kind of coaching I’ve ever had. It’s a whole new world,” Nolte said. “The positioning, the way the spacing works and how the passing works is unlike anything you’ll see in the Northwest.”

In her first season Nolte played in all 19 games for the Wildcats and started in 15 games, leading the team with eight goals and coming in second on the team with four assists.In Nolte’s sophomore year, she felt like the expectations were much higher because now she should know what to do.

“I felt like I had the knowledge to be successful,” Nolte said.

Nolte played in every game last season, and started in three games. She scored four goals, tied for second-highest on the team, while she led in assists with six.

“I definitely had to rise to the occasion; I’m still doing that everyday,” Nolte said.

After Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with SPU, Nolte has played in all 11 games, starting in five, and leading the team with three goals.

Mitchell acknowledges some improvements Nolte has made.

“This past year her first touch has been insane. I’ve seen her work on that outside of practice on her own to extreme lengths,” Mitchell said.

Nolte majors in psychology and leans towards sociology as a minor. She wants to be a sports psychologist.

“That parallels a lot with what I go through everyday,” Nolte said. “And I believe in it wholeheartedly that your mental game is everything.”