Sep. 18—When it comes to soccer at Madison, the girls know what a winning tradition is all about.

Reese Meister said she began to understand at a rather early age, when she ran down balls that were booted out of bounds during high school matches.

"I remember being the ball girl," the Blue Streaks senior striker said. "All of those games, looking up to those players and it made me want to be a better player and be a part of it."

Meister is no longer the player chasing down the balls; instead, the one kicking them into the net.

She leads the team with 20 goals this season, including three during a 3-2 win over Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin on Monday night. Meister has 73 career goals.

Meister is one of nine seniors on this year's Blue Streaks team, which is 9-2 on the season, including six straight wins.

"We have a new formation and an amazing offense," she said of her goal scoring ability. "There's amazing players around me that get the ball upfield and distribute it. It's just a really good attack."

Meister said she and her teammates don't really feel pressure to uphold the winning tradition, but understands what it means to play at Madison.

"It's not like specific expectations," she said. "I definitely have expectations for myself and I know our coach [Chad Butler] has some expectations for us. But, it's always a positive thing."

Madison certainly going beyond expectations this fall. Their only two losses were to Solon (6-0) and Mayfield Heights (1-0), both strong Division I programs in August.

The Blue Streaks are scheduled to play Chardon (Oct. 3) and Mentor (Oct. 5).

Madison has outscored its opponents 43-9 through 11 games.

Keeper Taylor MacAdam has been a standout in goal with seven shutouts.

Butler is used to his teams having success, but with this particular group, he knew there was a chance for something special to happen.

"We had high expectations for this year," he said. "You take out that Solon game and we've only given up three goals in eight games, so we're feeling pretty good."

Butler said that the team understands the tradition of playing for Madison is all about, but they are also starting to understand they have a chance to do something even more special.

"Just this year, they finally kind of realized it," the coach said. "It's been kind of fun watching them realize the opportunity that they have, not that they ever slacked off before, but the focus is so much higher because they see how good they can be."

Of all the winning teams Butler has coached, the 2018 team is the one which stands out as the Blue Streaks won a Division I district title at Mentor.

The coach believes this team is up for that type of challenge to not be just a team from Madison, but 'the team from Madison.'

"You always want to win the conference and go as far as you can in the postseason," Butler said. "But, I've kind of challenged them to stop being a Madison team and be the Madison team.

"The team, to do things, not just another team that came through. That's what I'm challenging them to be, and they take it to heart."

Meister for one certainly has.

"Some of us look deeper into the future than others," she explained. "I think those things are definitely possible, especially with the team we have right now."

Madison is scheduled to play at Edgewood starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday.