By Mike London
Salisbury Post
LANDIS — Recent South Rowan graduate Margo Maples had 10 shutouts this season, seven more than in 2025, and repeats as Rowan County Goalkeeper of the Year.
The 10th shutout came in a 4A playoff game. That said a lot about how much South has progressed during her career.
“That playoff game against East Burke will be the best soccer memory from my senior year,” the 5-foot-5 Maples said. “Getting to play a playoff game at home – and winning it. That was pretty big for all of us.”
Maples’ dreams when she was a youngster were about making game-winning buckets and hitting home runs, but athletics often provide curveballs. Maples wound up excelling for the Raiders in golf and soccer, rather than basketball and softball.
The turning point in her athletic life came in the seventh grade at China Grove Middle, where the Red Devils had a soccer team, but no goalkeeper. Maples volunteered to try it, although at the time she vowed to stop only the balls she could catch. She had no plans to dive for anything.
By eighth grade, however, her enthusiasm for soccer has grown by leaps and bounds. She was getting on the ground eagerly to make stops, and she was making super saves.
Brian Bell, who is now South Rowan’s head coach, was assisting Ellen Howard then at China Grove. Bell’s thing was goalkeeping. He has a passion for it. Maples became his prize pupil.
“Seventh grade, we told Margo if she would just try it, we’d help her be the best she could be,” Bell said. “We also told her that everyone would know who she was before she was done. I believe we accomplished that, and along the way, she made all of her teams a lot better.”
Maples didn’t play soccer as a South freshman, but with Bell assisting the Raiders when she was a sophomore, she made a comeback and began to make an impact. Her junior year she was South Piedmont Conference Goalkeeper of the Year in addition to being recognized with the county honor.
Maples didn’t have as many saves as a senior as she did her junior year, but that wasn’t because her skills declinded. It was mostly because South was giving up fewer shots. The Raiders (15-7-1) had a fine team that often dominated opponents. South scored 104 goals, while allowing 35.
“I know I was better as a senior than as a junior because of all the preseason work I put in,” Maples said. “Our league was good, quite a bit deeper this year. Lake Norman Charter and Central Cabarrus left, but we added Salisbury. Northwest Cabarrus, Robinson and Concord were better this year. So were West Rowan and East Rowan.
South was only overwhelmed once. That was the road game at Northwest Cabarrus, a polished soccer machine that turned in an unbeaten regular season.
“It sounds strange, but my best games, at least as far as stats, were games we lost,” Maples said. “I had my season high for saves (21) at Northwest Cabarrus and I had 11 when we lost to them by one goal at home. You get a lot more saves in the tough games like that than in the mercy-rule games.”
Maples figures that her best save of the year was a double-save at Northwest, where she stopped the initial shot and then denied the follow shot after the ball caromed off her.
South started preparing for a strong 2026 soccer season with voluntary workouts around Labor Day, although Maples missed some of those, as she was playing golf.
“But we kept up the workouts in the winter, and I made it to those,” Maples said. “Lots of weights and conditioning.”
South had a stouter team than the final record might indicate. Five of the seven losses were by a single goal. Two were in overtime. Even the second-round playoff loss to Lake Norman Charter that wound up being a 4-0 setback, was 1-0 late in the contest.
“Margo had a lot to do with that,” Bell said. “I love coaching goalkeepers and coaching her was always easy and fun because she is one of the most dedicated athletes I’ve ever been around. She had a desire to be the best and she never wanted to let her teammates down. Having that kind of desire is hard to measure, but it definitely means a lot.”
Maples credits Bell for her success. He’s always believed in her, and she’s always believed in him. He was calm when she needed patience and he was demanding when she needed a push. Sometimes it was tough love because Bell is a former goalkeeper, but Maples was always coachable, able to accept constructive criticism and make adjustments.
“Besides being an outstanding goalkeeper, she was a great teammate and a role model for the young players,” Bell said. “That goalkeeper’s life can be a tough one, but she was there for us every night and helped lead us every night. She always brought the right voice at the right time, whether it was cheering on her teammates or challenging them.”
Maples is headed to App State to study business and finance. App State has a competitive women’s club soccer team, so that may be part of Maples’ college experience.
“I hope so,” she said. “I don’t want soccer to be over for me.”
