Tyler Smalley captains winning defense for Wichita Northwest high school boys soccer team

When the Northwest boys soccer team needed a goalkeeper, Tyler Smalley volunteered to play the position even though it would take him out of the field.

When the Grizzlies needed him to return to his natural position to anchor their back line, Smalley dedicated himself this past offseason in the weight room to prepare for his duties.

Smalley, a senior centerback, has been a critical part of Northwest’s success this season, as the Grizzlies take a 10-3 record into a Class 6A showdown against Manhattan on Tuesday. Northwest could also potentially win the City League title with a victory next Tuesday at Wichita East.

“Tyler really reshaped himself and got in the weight room and got on the track and upped his speed,” Northwest coach Austin Clifton said. “He’s just an athletic freak now. He’s very good on the ball and he can make all of the passes out of the back. He takes all of our free kicks. He’s become a huge positive force for us.”

After serving as the team’s interim keeper as a sophomore, Smalley was ecstatic to return to the field last season. He wanted his senior season to be his best yet, so he would message his coach weekly about different plyometric workouts he could try this summer.

He said he can feel a difference this season with his movements on the field. Smalley also serves as the football team’s kicker on Friday nights.

“Coach told me to be ready after that season where I played goalie because we didn’t have anyone at keeper,” Smalley said. “So I made sure I was ready. I would go work out every single day and just work and work and work. That’s how I became who I am now.”

Northwest’s defense has been the strength of the team this season with just 13 goals allowed through 13 games. Smalley captains the back line, joined by fellow seniors Brayden Souter and Trenton MacKeeken with star sophomore Evan Locke now in goal.

That’s been good enough to support an offense led by freshman dynamo Jesus Ortiz, as he has been joined in the attack by sophomore Elijah Benning, junior Calvin Bell and senior Martin Soto-Tovar.

“We had a really good defense last year, but we couldn’t find the back of the net,” Clifton said. “Now that we’re scoring more and our defense is doing even better, we’re starting to put things together. If we don’t get scored on, then we can’t lose.”

“We talk about how this could be a special season for us every day in practice,” Smalley said. “We realize how we’ve changed and we’ve won more games already this year than most of the last few seasons. We know we can do something special, so we’re just focused on playing like we know how to.”