Lakeland Christian's KJ Straub graduates as Polk's most accomplished girls soccer player

It’s the end of an era for Lakeland Christian girls soccer.

Only a select few players have the staying power and impact over time and can define an era – and KJ Straub certainly is one of those players. She's made an impact since joining the starting lineup in the playoffs as a seventh-grader, and she was the lynchpin for Lakeland Christian’s four consecutive state championship teams.

As good as Straub has been throughout her career, believe it or not, she saved her best for last. Joined by eight new starters, Straub provided leadership on and off the field as well as her tremendous skill – she led the team in scoring despite being a defensive midfielder more than half the time – to become the most accomplished girls soccer player in Polk County history.

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Straub, who also was runner-up for Dairy Farmer’s Miss Soccer and was the Class 2A player of the year, is The Ledger’s 2023-24 Girls Soccer Player of the Year. She also was honored two years ago as a sophomore.

Winning four consecutive state titles was something she would not have predicted, despite the confidence she had in herself and her teammates, but she was confident enough to think that winning at least one state title was in the Vikings’ grasp.

“We had such amazing teams every single year,” Straub said. “There have been different people bringing different abilities every single year. My freshman year seeing that team, that was the first glimpse that, 'Oh my gosh, we could go all the way.' I played on the team in the seventh and eighth grades and we came so close. That team, my freshman year, I felt like we had all the perfect pieces. I felt like we were able to do it.”

As exciting as the first title was, it never got old.

“Each of them were so different from one another, I’ll absolutely never forget it,” she said. “Every single year, the anticipation – I loved it.”

The second title, she said, was grittier, last year’s was the impossible win over St. Johns Country Day and this year was the fourth in a row.

Straub has always been one of the top players in skill and one who provided leadership, but she admitted that it was different this season.

“I had to look at it completely different this year,” she said. “I’ve always been known as the baby on the team. This year being a senior and being able to help these girls in the best way possible, I’ve been so blessed to be able to go every year. Seeing that they have the opportunity to do that as well was so exciting. I was so excited for them.”

Straub is genuinely humble; she lights up so much more when talking about her teammates than when she’s talking about herself. On the field, she plays with a tremendous amount of passion. That intensity and drive is more than visible in photos as she plays with her heart on her sleeve.

“It was clear when she rolled into the end of (her seventh-grade) season and playoffs that, from an IQ standpoint, she was one of the best out there,” LCS coach Jason Streets said. “But my favorite thing about her has always been her competitive drive. She just does not handle losing. She wants to win so bad. Her eighth grade year we lost in the state semis and seeing her mentality from it and her drive and the determination into the next year.

"And it helped her freshman year when coming along with Ramsey (Watkins) and having those kind of leaders showing the way to finally get that. But she was such a huge part of it. She was right in the middle. From there on, it just kind of blossomed. Her leadership, her competitiveness, you can’t teach. To lead in such a way that the girls, gravitate to it because everything is encouraging and everything is with love. It’s so rare. A lot of girls think leading is yelling at your teammates, trying to fire them up or being critical, where KJ is the reverse. KJ is going to take blame on this, that it’s her fault, and she's going to lead with love.”

On the field, Streets used Straub wherever there was a need. If the Vikings needed a boost offensively, she’d move to an attacking role. She finished with team-highs of 20 goals and 25 assists. In the playoffs, she was mostly found on defense. And whenever the Vikings played a team with an explosive, highly rated player, Streets put Straub on that player, and she shut her down.

Individually, Straub is most proud of how her confidence has grown and how much more she understands all aspects of the game, including the importance of team chemistry. And she credits her teammates — of course — with helping her develop.

“Having so many amazing players to play under, I’ve been so blessed to be able to do that,” she said. “That helped me a lot and helped shape me to be able to lead the team this year. Having girls like Ramsey and Katie Carnes and Eden Guynn, having those influences on me and even all the way back to my seventh grade year with Katie Williams and Destiny Deese, having those leaders to look up to definitely helped me throughout my high school years.”

Straub has achieved nearly everything a high school soccer player can achieve, and more than anything she dreamed. Speaking prior to the release of the Miss Soccer winner, Straub said she wouldn’t be disappointed if she didn’t win. It was a humble sentiment and an honest one.

“The fact that we won four (state titles), I was so excited,” she said. “If anything else happens, that would be wonderful too, but if not, what more could I ask for. God has been so good to us this season.”

Straub is moving on to play college soccer at South Alabama as LCS’s fifth Division I signee of the past decade. She joins a team that 16-1-3 last fall and leaves a team that returns nearly all its top players.

The Vikings will again be a contender for a state title, but missing Straub will be a big loss.

“She was that glue that brought it all together and showed the way,” Streets said. The girls all gravitate to her, and it’s fun watching. Everything is love and fun, and she far exceeded from what I thought was good.”

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland Christian's KJ Straub finishes as Polk's top girls soccer player