By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Dean Dunlavy knew all along that he was getting an impact player.

What the Southeast’s veteran girls soccer head coach didn’t know was that freshman Grace Wheeler was going to emerge as a scoring phenom so quickly.

And with such proficiency that Wheeler’s name would find its way to the top of the program’s record book as the new leader for single-season goals for a freshman with 22.

It all began to shift into focus on Aug 16 for Dunlavy.

That is when he realized that Wheeler was something different.

On that night, the Pirates and Wheeler lifted the curtain on the 2024 season with a 7-0 win over the Ravenna Ravens.

Four of those goals were scored by Wheeler.

And just like that, Dunlavy was excited.

“I remember standing on the sideline watching the game, and I was in the moment of the game, but I remember being excited about what it meant for the season, too,” said Dunlavy, who has 242 career wins. “I already knew that I had two other forwards that could score, and I knew I had some midfielders that could score, but all of a sudden I realized that Grace was a third forward that could not only score for us, but play with pace. That was an exciting thought.”

For Wheeler, Aug. 16 was the jumpstart to an amazing freshman season, which is still ongoing, but also already includes 47 points.

For the Pirates, Aug. 16 was the start of a historic season.

One unlike any the program has ever experienced, which is a story itself considering the run of success Southeast has celebrated in its 30-year history.

On Monday, Wheeler scored the lone goal, coming in the 34th minute of the first half, in the Pirates’ 1-0 win over New Middletown Springfield to clinch at least a share of the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference championship. Southeast will get its chance for the outright title when it plays at Waterloo next Thursday (Oct. 10).

On that night, the Vikings will attempt to do something no team has been able to do this season: Beat the Pirates.

Following Monday’s thrilling title-clinching win, Southeast is now 12-0-1 overall and a perfect 7-0-0 in league play.

The only blip on the undefeated season, to this point, is a 3-3 tie against Salem that came back on  Aug. 28. In the team’s 13 games, they have outscored opponents 57-11 and they have seven shutout victories.

Add it all up and you have the story of the program’s 10th championship in 30 years.

To get there, it has been one of the more enjoyable experiences for Dunlavy, whose team has a chemistry that has been present since the start of summer training. A presence that the players, including Wheeler, felt instantly.

“This group of girls have been so amazing,” Wheeler said of the group that Dunlavy ranks in the top three of his career when ranking on- and off-field chemistry. “Coming in as a freshman, they were so welcoming and they trusted us. You could feel the whole team bonding and now we are just so close with each other, which is great because if we tried to play as individuals out on the field, we would never be as good as we are now as a team.”

Wheeler’s spot on the team is typically at right forward, but Dunlavy has started to occasionally shift her to center forward to continue her development.

“Grace is a player that plays the game at a very good skill level,” Dunlavy said. “She is great in tight spaces with the ball at her feet and has continued to show a knack for getting through those tight spaces, using both feet, to create space and to create scoring opportunities. She is just a very well-rounded player, but what really stands out is that she is such a good teammate. She is not just playing for herself, she has a passion for the sport and a passion for wanting her teammates to play well, too.”

It is a passion that her mother, Amber Wheeler, has seen for a long time.

Ever since she started playing at the youth level.

It is part of what has allowed Wheeler to fall in love with the game.

“I started playing when I was 4, and some of my first memories of playing were me just kicking the ball around,” said Wheeler, who also runs cross country and track and field (400, 800, 4×800) I was still learning so much, but by the time I was about 9 or 10 is when I remember really falling in love with the sport, and I realized that soccer was going to be a big deal to me for a long time.”

What Portage County is beginning to see is that Wheeler is going to be a big deal to the game of soccer for a long time.