Tori Meinecke rebounds from ACL tear, fights through sickness for Nevada girls soccer team

Tori Meincke may not look like Magic Johnson or John Stockton, but she has been playing a similar role to the two Hall of Fame NBA point guards for the Class 1A No. 4 Nevada girls soccer team.

“Her passing and her vision of the game is awesome,” said Nevada coach Randy Davis. “We want her to be the distributor."

After playing outside midfielder most of her first two seasons, Davis put Meincke at forward to start 2023 because of her excellent speed and knack for finding the net. Meincke scored 12 goals in 31 games over the past two seasons, helping Nevada reach the 1A state semifinals each year.

But as the 2023 season progressed, Davis and assistant coaches Justin Evans and Mark Rhodes began to notice how well she was seeing the field. Meinecke was putting the ball in perfect places for her teammates to score.

"We started with her at forward, but then we thought her distribution is so nice and she and Aubrey (Thompson) play off each other so well that we slid her back there," Davis said. "She sees the game and is that quarterback out there getting the ball where it needs to be.”

She embraced the role and has excelled ever since.

“I look for the open spots,” Meincke said. “I have to keep my head up and turn...I’m working on that. I’m finding open spaces and I get a lot of crosses on corner kicks. We’ve gotten a lot of scores on that.”

Her teammates have reaped the rewards of her phenomenal passing.

“She’s always there to set me up for goals,” said Nevada freshman forward Avery Anderson. “I always know she’s going to be there. We connect really well together.”

Through the first six games of the season, Anderson has eight goals, Thompson four and Evelyn Anderson three. Meincke has four goals herself, but she's also dished out seven assists, the third-most in 1A.

“She always keeps her head up and she knows where people are and knows open spaces,” Anderson said. “She’s ready for the next pass before it even gets there.”

More: How Joslynn Farmer got to be a hero in her first start for the Nevada girls soccer team

A big reason Meinecke has thrived in her role is because of how comfortable she is on the field.

Meinecke tore her ACL during her freshman season. She was able to make it back in time to play last year, but she was still a little sore and not fully in her element.

Meinecke still wears a knee brace, but she is clearly healthier this year and it shows on the field.

“I’m definitely more confident,” Meinecke said. “Last year with my knee, I was nervous with how it could be and I was in track too and it was kind of harder on it. This year I’m not doing track and I think it feels a lot better. My legs definitely aren’t as sore anymore and I feel a lot stronger.”

Meinecke was battling a cold during Thursday's game against 2A No. 3 North Polk. But she fought through it to help Nevada pull off a 1-0 victory on a goal from Aubrey Thompson.

“She was struggling just breathing out there," Davis said. "She played super-well for how much she was struggling.”

When Meinecke fully recovers from her cold, Nevada is really going to be a force to be reckoned with.

“We talked about this being a process and we’re six games in,” Davis said. “We know we’re not perfect yet. We just need to keep building and getting better.”

With Meinecke running the show on offense Nevada just might be able to capture the first state championship in program history when all is said and done.

“We’re going to work for it,” Meinecke said. “We definitely want to get there this year.”

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Tori Meinecke has become a big weapon for the Nevada girls soccer team