Bowen Matthews breaks FPD career goals record as Vikings defeat John Milledge in 9-1 romp

FPD’s Bowen Matthews knew it was coming for a long time, a record to be broken.

Her head coach? Not so much.

“I think most players, knowing that they’re close to that, they’re going to try to let you know,” FPD head girls soccer coach Seth Berkibile said. “I asked her before the game, ‘Why did you not tell me you were this close?’”

Her answer — a response many coaches would dream of — was simple.

“I don’t want to be arrogant about it.”

Matthews didn’t go crazy in celebration when she passed Rebecca Miller’s program record of 138 career goals early in the Vikings’ 9-1 win Tuesday night over visiting John Milledge, but it had still been on her mind for a while. 

Matthews started eyeing the record last year, amid setting a new mark for single-season goals with 51 as a freshman.

“I knew it was possible for me to reach it this year,” she said. “I knew I was on track to reach this goal, but it came a little quicker than I thought, so I’m grateful for that.”

Matthews’ scoring helped the Vikings improve to 13-0 overall and 7-0 in GIAA District 6-4A/3A, while the Trojans fell to 8-5 and 3-4.

FPD’s boys got the evening going with a 4-1 over the Trojans — Dominic Economopoulos with the Vikings’ goals — to improve to 6-7, John Milledge dropping to 2-9-2.

John Milledge visits Mount de Sales on Tuesday, while FPD steps out of GIAA play at Upson-Lee on Thursday.

Matthews now has 53 goals this season after the four-goal night, and the Vikings still have five regular season games left and then the playoffs.

Berkebile was surprised that Matthews never mentioned the upcoming record breaking.

“I called her dad earlier today just to tell him, like, ‘I don’t know if you guys know that she’s this close. She’s tied right now,’” the first-year head coach said. “He was like, ‘Oh yeah, we know.’ I didn’t think she had any idea, because she hasn’t said a word to me about it.”

She rolled past the mark set by Miller from 2007-11 thanks to nearly 40 goals as an eighth-grader. Also key in Matthews’ proficient goal-scoring run are her teammates Katelynn Jackson and Elcee Leslein, who are eyeing some assist marks. The two teamed for five assists Tuesday to go with three goals from Jackson and two from Leslein.

“I’m surrounded by all these great players,” Matthews said.

The Vikings had it clicking on Tuesday, taking an 8-1 lead into halftime, keyed by a burst of three goals in two minutes, one from Matthews and two from Jackson with Matthews and Leslein chipping in assists.

It was the ninth time FPD’s girls scored at least nine goals, and the 10th time an opponent managed a goal or less.

 “We’ve got a lot of good chemistry that can take us far,” Matthews said. “We’re a solid group.”

Berkebile couldn’t find much to complain about, either.

“John Milledge has a couple of really talented players that really gave us a hard time the last time we played them,” he said of the 8-2 win almost a month ago. “I knew they were coming off a good result against Stratford, so I wasn’t sure how they were going to come in.

“With this team and these talented players, it’s like they always exceed my expectations.”