Maizie Nickle’s athletic career has been anything but ordinary.

An active child growing up, Nickle participated in a variety of sports, including softball, cheerleading, gymnastics and soccer. Nickle first laced up her soccer cleats at 10 years old, and decided to focus on soccer when she arrived at Huntley her freshman year.

“I knew I’d have to choose soccer or softball because those were my two after I quit the other ones,” Nickle said. “They’re in the same high school season, so I made the decision early on to focus on soccer. I love everything about it. I love the running. I love my team. I love the physicality and how it feels when you score a goal or make a tackle.”

Since then, Nickle has played four years of varsity soccer for the Red Raiders, guiding the program to three regional championships and a combined 62-14-12 record. The senior forward has scored 42 goals while dishing out 12 assists and totaling 94 points over 68 games.

This season, Nickle is tied for the team lead with eight goals. She also leads the Raiders in assists (six) and points (22). More impressive, however, is that Nickle has returned to form after suffering a torn ACL in her right knee during the final game of her junior season. The injury was the latest of many she’s endured throughout her athletic career.

“It was in the last 15 minutes,” Nickle said. “I went in for the ball that another girl went in for and my knee just popped. People have told me before what it’s like to tear an ACL. I had never torn it, but right when I felt that pop, I knew what happened, so I was really bummed.”

It had been the best season of her high school career. Nickle scored a career-best 24 goals with five assists, earned IHSSCA All-State Field Player honors, All-FVC honors and All-Area first-team honors. Nickle had even been named the 2025 Northwest Herald Girls Soccer Player of the Year.

But the injury, combined with a 1-0 loss to Lake Zurich in a sectional semifinal, meant Nickle would have to physically and mentally recover from her season’s unfortunate end. More discouraging was that she thought she had finally made it through a healthy season. Since she started playing soccer, she’s suffered multiple sprained ankles, a bone marrow edema in her back, fractured knees and a broken ankle.

“It’s been really frustrating,” Nickle said. “After every injury, I’m like, ‘Oh my God, not again.’ But that feeling when you come back, it feels so good, and you’re like, ‘Wow, I can do it.’ There have been moments where I’ve been like, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore.’ But here I am.”

Leaning on the support from her mother, Melissa, Nickle persevered through more than nine months of rehabilitation from her ACL injury. When the time came to sign up for soccer, Nickle had doubts about whether or not she’d play this season. But three days before tryouts, Nickle reacclimate coach Matt Lewandowski that she’d give it one more try.

“It’s a testament to her competitive nature,” Lewandowski said. “She wants to perform and do anything she can for the team. She’s shown an incredible amount of resiliency. I’ve torn my ACL three times, so I know what she’s done. You’re never the same afterward.”

While it’s taken some time for her to reacclimate herself with soccer, Nickle has grown more comfortable with her body as the Raiders have pushed through the season.

She graduated from her physical therapy program just a few weeks ago and has played more minutes this season (964) than she has in any of her previous three.

“Coming back from my ACL has definitely been a struggle, and I’ve had to get through it and build my confidence back up,” Nickle said. “The ACL changed my perspective on things. I’ve just been trying to have fun this year instead of being so hard on myself. My confidence has definitely improved. The first game back, I barely went into tackles because I was so nervous, but now, I feel like I’m back to normal.”

Nickle is peaking at the perfect time. Huntley, which holds a 13-3-2 record this season, earned a No. 2 seed for the postseason and will host its regional championship Saturday afternoon. Not only are the Raiders vying for a fourth straight title, but with Lake Zurich and Barrington out of the picture, a sectional title could be in reach.

“We lost a lot of seniors, and last year, all of our seniors played club together, so they were already building that bond,” Nickle said. “But we’ve grown a lot, we’ve improved a lot, and I’m excited to see where we can go.”

Nickle, who was on Division-I scouting radar before her ACL injury, still aspires to play collegiately. While her speed has always made her a threat at the forward position, Nickle’s passing ability, combined with her field vision, have made her more valuable. Those skills have enabled her to succeed even as she’s frequently marked by the opposing defense.

“We knew that she would be man-marked, if not double man-marked,” Lewandowski said. “One of the conversations we had going into the season was it’s going to be different. Last year, she was a little bit unknown, but with her proving what she’s capable of, she’s going to draw a lot of attention. For her to draw that much attention not even a year out from surgery is a testament to her competitive nature.”

Unsure of what her athletic future holds, Nickle is enjoying the final stretch of her high school career. While she’d like nothing more than to deliver Huntley its first sectional title since 2016, Nickle is happy to be back to full health. Once faced with days when she couldn’t leave her bed, Nickle has forged a strong body and a strong mind.

“Physical therapy was the hardest part,” Nickle said. “I couldn’t even bend my knee. It’s like your leg is paralyzed, and for someone who’s super athletic and loves to use her legs to run, it was heartbreaking. My mom helped me a lot. I’ve faced a lot of injuries before, and I’ve always come back, so I said to myself, ‘Why would I stop now?’”