CUMBERLAND — After the 2022 season, Cumberland girls soccer coach John Hoxsie was asked how he was going to replace the offense lost by graduating All-State forward Riley Trudeau. Hoxsie’s response was simple: “Do you know who Nicole Calle is?” When All-America forward Emma Kucal suffered an ACL tear and was forced to miss her entire junior campaign, everyone was wondering where the title-chasing Clippers were going to get their offense from. Hoxsie, again, responded, “Do you know who Nicole Calle is?” Everyone in the state quickly found out who Nicole Calle was.
The problem for the rest of Division I was they simply couldn’t stop her. The Cumberland senior All-State forward was named the 2023-24 Gatorade Girls Soccer Player of the Year Thursday morning after delivering 21 goals and seven assists to lead the Clippers to the program’s first state in November. “I knew Nicole could do what she did this season,” Hoxsie said a few weeks after the Clippers finished their undefeated campaign.
“She came back better every single year. Nicole had a fantastic junior year. I’ve known for four years she’s as talented as she’s shown because she works hard.
She totally put it all together this year.” Calle is the second straight Clipper to earn the Gatorade award after Kucal won it her sophomore season after producing 20 goals and 19 assists. The All-American had to accept the award still recovering from a torn ACL she suffered on the eve of the 2022 state semi.