Duarte at center of Costa Mesa’s success

Rick Devereux

Loki, an angel of destruction in the movie “Dogma,” said mass

genocide is the most exhausting thing one can engage in next to

soccer.

With all of the running around, it is easy to see why. But even

among all the running, there sometimes is one person on the pitch

running more than the others. One person always in the center of

action.

If it is a Costa Mesa High girls soccer game, that person is

usually senior captain Nilani Duarte.

“She’s our go-to person,” Coach Dan Johnston said. “We get the

ball to her and she distributes it.”

That doesn’t mean Duarte can’t score goals, herself. She scored

three goals in three games for the Mustangs to earn Daily Pilot

Athlete of the Week honors. She just prefers to get the assist.

“I like assisting people more than I like scoring,” Duarte said.

“I feel like it’s more of an accomplishment.”

Johnston said Duarte has the vision and skill to succeed in

soccer.

“She’s very good at controlling the ball,” he said.

“She’s like a vacuum cleaner.” One of her main assets is her

relentless will to win.

“She works hard for the ball and has the skill to do things when

she gets it,” Johnston said. “She wins the majority of our

fifty-fifty balls.

Players are worth their weight in gold if they win the fifty-fifty

balls, and she wins them all the time.”

Duarte said her determination to be the best won’t allow someone

else to beat her to a ball in the air.

“Every time there’s a goal kick, I know the ball is mine,” Duarte

said. “I think to myself ‘There is no way I’m going to let someone

else get that ball.’ ”

Her passion for soccer reins in her veins. Her father and

grandfather both played in high school and college and instilled a

love of the game in her at a young age.

The 17-year old has been playing soccer since she was 5. “When I

was growing up, my whole family played soccer,” she said.

The constant action of soccer may make Loki exhausted, but

apparently Duarte does not mind at all.

“Any time you have someone as active as Nilani, it helps the

entire team,” Johnston said.

“All roads lead through Nilani. If they scored soccer like they do

hockey, she would have a lot more assists.”

But Duarte can score as well.

“She’s got a great shot,” Johnston said. “If people don’t pull a

defender out to cover her, she will pull the trigger from 25-yards

out.

Even if she misses, they know she will shoot from there and have

to put a defender on her, which opens up things for other players.”

Duarte will continue her soccer career at George Mason University

in Virginia.

She ultimately made her decision based on fellow Mustang,

co-captain and best friend Jenny Sparks.

“I had two schools I was thinking about, but she was definitely

the deciding factor in why I’m going to George Mason,” Duarte said.

“We’re such best friends and we know each other’s strengths.”