When Noelle Mallory realized that she could not will the Cape Elizabeth girls soccer team to a state championship by herself, it felt as if a weight had been lifted. 

“It took me a few hard losses to realize it, but it’s never going to be one person’s fault, winning or losing,” said the senior forward. “And I think suggesting that someone’s going to score all the goals, and that will be the reason we win states, isn’t realistic at all.”

All of a sudden there was less pressure to score. She could try things in games that she had been working on in training or find different ways to get her teammates involved. There was less stress. Mallory believed she played her best soccer when she was having fun with her best friends. 

The three-time Western Maine Conference Player of the Year had a lot of fun this fall, scoring 30 goals and assisting on 25 as the Capers went 18-0 and claimed their first Class B state championship since 2021. For her efforts, Mallory is the 2025 Varsity Maine Girls Soccer Player of the Year. 

“I wish I could still say that we were playing and competing with that record, but honestly, there’s no better way that we could have ended it,” she said. 

Mallory notched two assists in the state final to help Cape Elizabeth beat Hermon, 3-0. In a South quarterfinal against Leavitt and a semifinal against Freeport, she had a hand in all seven of the Capers’ goals. 

In the regional semifinals, Mallory collided with a Freeport defender during a corner kick in overtime, and both players fell to the ground. The ball was cleared out but play continued, so Mallory got up, received a pass back into the box, made a touch on the ball, turned around and fired a shot for her 90th and final career goal, giving Cape a 2-1 win.

When Mallory broke the program’s previous scoring record of 74 goals, coach Branden Noltkamper remembered her thanking all of her teammates and emphasizing the moment as a team accomplishment. 

“She’s a very selfless player,” Noltkamper said. “Very supporting player of everybody in our program. She’s one of a kind.”

A prolific scorer and Maine Soccer Coaches Association all-state player since her freshman season, Mallory was accustomed to heavy defensive pressure, from man-marks to double- and triple-teams. This year was no different. 

The United Soccer Coaches All-American used her speed, size, ball-control skills and efficient shot creation to break past opposing defenses, but she wanted to become more dynamic, so she committed to adding runs-from-behind into her arsenal. 

“You never want to plateau, and you never want to be predictable,” Mallory said.

Noltkamper said Mallory’s constant desire for growth rubbed off on the rest of the program, as did the senior leader’s positivity, resilience and composure. 

On Oct. 16, the Capers went into halftime trailing Greely for the second time in two games. Mallory finished with two goals and two assists in a 5-2 win, but Noltkamper said it was her halftime leadership that lit a spark. 

“All those little things that you would love to hear from a captain, that you don’t necessarily ask them to say … she wanted to make sure right away that everyone’s heads went straight back up, shoulders went back,” he said. “We just kept marching forward and encouraged everybody to keep pushing forward.”

Mallory is committed to play soccer at Middlebury College, which fulfills her goals of high-level academics and a competitive athletic program. She is undeclared in her major but plans to take pre-med courses.