'I just wanted to win' Gaylord's Claire Gorno finishes as Big North's top goal scorer
GAYLORD ― Claire Gorno has scored a lot of goals in a Gaylord uniform in her life.
The Class of 2024 member has been one of the leaders of the Gaylord girls varsity soccer team the past two seasons, finishing as one of the top goals scorers in the Big North Conference as a sophomore in 2022 while earning All-State honorable mention honors after the season concluded.
This season, she one-upped herself, and the rest of the league.
Gorno wrapped the 2023 regular season as the Big North's top goal scorer, finishing with nine goals and eight assists throughout the Blue Devils' ten conference matchups, adding yet another impressive milestone to her resume in her stellar soccer career.
After finishing third in the conference in goals a season ago, it was a safe bet that the junior would finish around or at the top of the list in 2022. However, according to Gorno, she wasn't worried about a scoring title.
She wanted wins.
"I just wanted to help my team," said Gorno. "I was aware I was close to the top last year, but going into the season nothing really changed for me, I just wanted to win games."
While spending most of her time as a striker as a sophomore, head coach Christopher Adams took advantage of the strong forwards on the Blue Devils' roster by moving Gorno around from striker to center midfielder based on the opponent. And, while not an easy transition, Gorno said she ultimately benefited from having good teammates around to help her control things when Gaylord had scoring opportunities.
"I enjoyed the opportunity to work with Sydney Deer to control the midfield and we had some great success working back and forth," said Gorno.
One of the highlights of her and the Blue Devils' season came in a win over Petoskey, where a hat trick from Gorno accounted for all three goals in Gaylord's 3-1 win over the Northmen.
Gorno credits Coach Adams along with her teammates for helping her win the scoring title. The confidence given to her by her coach plus the comfort of knowing where her teammates will be and how they will play made it easier for her to control everything on her end.
"Forward is a tough position, if you are in your head you will not score," said Gorno. "Chris is very good at not only motivating you to do better, but teaching you the fundamentals of why things are not working. He is just a great coach."
"We have a strong group of players and as the season progressed, I feel like we got better and better. I attribute that to trusting one another. Knowing where my teammates would be on the field and how to safely pass to them or to take the shot when it was open."
As one of the top returning players in the conference for the 2024 season, Gorno will have a real shot of leading the league in scoring again. As she looks forward, however, she wants to improve her numbers in every category.
"I’d like to meet or exceed my season’s total points record. Sure, it’s fun to score goals especially when the game is close but it’s just as fun to have a nice touch or pass that allows my teammate to score," said Gorno.
Gorno hopes to play soccer in college after graduation. She is about to start another summer of camps and college visits but is still undecided about her future plans as of now.
She also represents Gaylord and Northern Michigan on the MHSAA Student Advisory Council, a 16-member group that provides feedback on issues impacting educational athletics from a student’s perspective.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Gaylord's Claire Gorno finishes as Big North's top goal scorer
