Independence High soccer player passes 100 career goals

by John Benson

Senior Sam Belitz became the Independence High soccer team’s all-time goal scorer last year, but the Blue Devils’ center midfielder said he’s never been preoccupied with personal achievement.

“I’ve kind of been a goal scorer all of my life, so I always looked at the records I guess, but I never really imagined I would be the one that held the career goals record during my junior year of high school,” said Belitz, 17.

The Grove City College soccer recruit ended last season with 89 goals, breaking the school record of 63. This season, he has passed 100 goals, reaching 114 by the end of September. He’s also been named Conference MVP and Greater Cleveland MVP in past seasons.

At the outset of his high school career, Belitz said scoring was the furthest thing from his mind.

“That was not on my radar at all,” he said. “After watching for so many years, I was really just excited to play on the high school soccer team. So if you told me I’d eventually score 100 goals for that team, I’d have thought you were crazy.”

Belitz has played center midfield all four years, “but freshman year it was a little bit more of a defensive role, because there were a lot of talented seniors on the squad,” he said. “After they all graduated, my sophomore year I was still playing in the middle, but more of an attacking role.”

Belitz approaches the game with a team-first mentality. He hopes to be remembered as a good teammate and role model for the younger kids.

Coach Ryan D. MacRaild indicated that Belitz has met those goals.

“Sam has been one of the top players in our program in his four years,” MacRaild said. “He’s also a top student and band member. He works hard on and off the field and is very committed to his Christianity as well.”

He said Belitz, one of the team captains, leads by example and offers encouragement to his teammates.

“He’s skilled and athletic with a very high work rate and natural ability with the ball at his feet,” MacRaild said. “He’s a model of what it means to be a student-athlete.”

Belitz is coming to terms with this being his last year at Independence.

“It’s definitely a bittersweet feeling and something I looked forward to for so long, but I think I’m OK with it, because I really left my mark on the school as much as I could,” he said. “I feel that during these four years, I’ve done all I could to help Independence achieve success. And I’m excited to play soccer at Grove City next year.”

Independence’s Division III squad was ranked fourth in the state in early October. It won the Cuyahoga Valley Conference championship for the fourth year in a row.

“We have not been beaten in the regular season in 41 games dating back to August 2016,’’ said MacRaild. “We hope to go further in the playoffs than the past years.”

 

Featured image photo caption: Independence High School senior Sam Belitz hit a major milestone in his soccer career when kicked his 100th goal. Photo by A. McDonald