CHAUMONT — For all of his prowess on offense, Alex Radley prides himself on being a complete player on the soccer field.
Radley finished his varsity career among some of the most prolific goal scorers in Frontier League history.
Yet the Lyme senior is proud of the versatility he’s shown on the soccer pitch at the school over the years.
Radley finishes his scholastic career as the league’s leader in all-time goals with 106, as well as in assists (74) and points (290), playing in five varsity seasons.
For his efforts, Radley has been selected as the Times All-North Most Valuable Player representing the Frontier League.
“That’s such a great honor,” Radley said. “Because I look at it every year, that’s like been one of my goals since I can remember is to be on that newspaper page and be up there with some of the other great players from the Frontier League. It’s just a great honor to have.”
Radley was also selected as an All-State player on the small schools team, which is presented by the United Soccer Coaches.
“It’s such an honor to wear a captain’s band, especially for my school and to be representing my school as one of our leaders, it’s a great feeling,” said Radley, who helped lead his team to a 13-3 record this season.
Radley’s career numbers also resonate beyond the league as he stands fifth all-time in goal scoring, fourth in assists and third in total points in Section 3 history.
“Like to be up there with those guys, I recognize some of those names from past teams and they were some insane players and they went on to play in college and be successful in that,” Radley said. “So it’s awesome to be compared with them.”
Radley was able to produce these offensive numbers while playing at the central-midfielder position on the field.
“My brother (Derek) was more of a striker,” Radley said. “Where I’m more of a (central)-midfielder, I can play defense.”
Radley says he also enjoys helping out in the defensive side of the game.
“In travel ball I play defense and I love defense because it’s just the competitive feeling of it being one guy trying to beat you, like one-on-one,” Radley said. “But I also love the feeling of scoring and assisting and helping our team win. It’s hard to pick, but I probably say offense is my favorite.”
Radley surpassed the previous league mark of 100 goals held by Slater Bushen, a Lyme graduate who completed his soccer career at the school in 2017, and also bested Bushen’s points record of 246.
“I mean Slater, I was a ball boy for him, he was one of my idols,” Radley said. “My brother, of course being one of my idols as well, it’s great to just be in comparison with them.”
He passed the mark during a four-goal effort in a 12-0 victory against LaFargeville on Oct. 1 in Chaumont, also assisting on four goals on the day.
“My 10th-grade year, I had a really good year, too,” Radley said. “Last year, I still had a really good year but it wasn’t what I wanted, and this year I broke through and I had a really good year, I’m proud of myself.
“I’m so proud of how our team was able to play through me, because that was the game plan, really was to play through me and then I would get the assist or score, so I was very proud of myself.”
Lyme graduate Cory Walker, who held the league record before it was broken by Bushen, was in attendance for Alex Raley’s historic day.
“Yeah like most of the town was there and it was awesome to have their support, I’m, so, so happy,” Radley said.
Radley is also proud and grateful for the encouragement and teaching from his dad, Scott, a former longtime coach of the team.
“He went to Lyme and he played and he was an All-Star for a couple years ago,” Radley said of his dad. “And then he went to college and then he started coaching at Lyme. He just created such a culture at Lyme, because he coached for 20 some years and he really created the community. I know I’m biased because’s he’s my dad, but he was really the one that implemented like ‘we have to be determined and we have to be hard working all the time in soccer.’
“Their teams did well and they never won sectionals, but they got to sectional finals multiple times. He was just a great coach, he knows the game. And it’s great to have a father like that because he can teach me.”
Alex Radley said he was able to accomplish his historic scoring and assist records by working on the strength of his right foot, which truly complemented his left foot this year.
“I’m left footed, but this year I think I probably had half my goals with my other foot,” Radley said. “Because people would guard my left foot, so I had to shoot with my right more. … I could make better passes with my right foot and that shows with me having more assists as well.”
Radley’s scholastic career ended with a bit of heartbreak as he suffered a broken ankle during Lyme’s sectional game against Cincinnatus. The Red Lions went on to edge the Lakers, 1-0, in a first-round game held in Chaumont.
“It was rough, because it happened with like 15 minutes left in the game and we had so many chances in those last 15 minutes,” Radley said. “It was just hard to watch.”
“Alex been awesome for us,” Lyme coach Jen Scott said the day Radley broke Bushen’s goal-scoring record. “I don’t know what else you can say about Alex, his passion for the game of soccer is unmatched by anybody I’ve ever seen play. He plays soccer all year long, he plays club, he’s a leader of the team and he’s just fantastic. He’s a great young man who has a bright future ahead of him.”