ROCHESTER — Maddy Harden’s time to rest will come when this Rochester Community and Technical College women’s soccer season is done. Until then, expect the 2023 Dover-Eyota graduate to go pretty much the entire 90 minutes on game days for the Yellowjackets. This is called taking it for the team and with just 13 rostered RCTC players, there is no strength here in numbers.
It’s a good thing then that there is strength in Harden. RCTC coach Bryan Weiss asked pretty much the same thing of her a year ago, even when he did have the benefit of a deeper bench. ADVERTISEMENT She delivered then and he knows she’ll deliver now.
“We did that last year with her, too,” said Weiss, whose team kicked off its season Wednesday with a 5-2 victory at Dakota County Technical College. “We had her out there pretty much the whole time. We try to keep our scorers (she was second on the team in 2023 with 12 goals) out there as much as possible.
Maddy is a great player. She has a soccer background, having played for a high-level club team. Plus, she has speed and vision and she can pass and make shots.
She just has to work through (playing the entire game), because we need her to play offense and defense for 90 minutes.” Harden does know how to do that. Halftime, for her, is a beautiful thing.
“Playing an entire game is not ideal,” Harden said. “Last year was difficult. But you have halftime to recover, and then you go out there and do it again.
Knowing that it could lead to a win, that makes it worth pushing through the entire 90 minutes.” RCTC had a strong season a year ago, going 10-1-3 and ranked No. 8 in NJCAA Division III.
It finished with a loss to Delta College (Mich.) in the district tournament. Weiss got a bit of a gift when Harden chose to essentially stay home and attend RCTC.
The Dover resident was a known soccer commodity, having been named All-State as a junior. There were inquiries from a pack of Division III schools, including Buena Vista University in Iowa. Harden seriously considered the latter until viewing the price tag and then choosing to stay home.
She commutes from the Harden family home in Dover to RCTC every day of the school year. That’s worked well, allowing a huge cost savings compared to attending any of the private Division III colleges that were interested. Harden is pursuing a degree in radiography, hoping to eventually finish that at Mayo Clinic.
ADVERTISEMENT When she is on the soccer pitch at RCTC, she is at her happiest. Playing junior college soccer has been a nice fit. Sports at two-year colleges can be a nomadic existence, with players coming and going and nobody able to stay for more than two years.
But Harden hasn’t minded that. She says it keeps things fresh. She has taken a quick liking to this 2024 RCTC edition, one that has been practicing together since Aug.
1. Harden’s role isn’t just to be a player on this team but a leader. She’s taken to that naturally.
“We end up with new kids on this team every year,” Harden said. “It’s great to see (these players) wanting to learn and it’s great to be that person that they are asking questions. I like being a leader.
I like showing people at practice that even when you are having a bad day, that you can drop everything at the door and be a good soccer player.” RCTC teammate and close friend Emily Morales says that Harden has a special way about her. She makes teammates feel at home all while also giving them a push.
“She is laughing during drills and making people feel comfortable,” Morales said. “What’s also good is how competitive she is. You know, everybody likes to win, but she pushes people above that, just to better themselves as a whole.
” SCHEDULE Aug. 30 — North Central University, 4:30 p.m.
Sept. 4 — Anoka-Ramsey, 5 p.m.
Sept. 14 — Alexandria Technical and Community College, 3 p.m.
Sept. 18 — at UW-River Falls JV, 4 p.m.
Sept. 21 — Lake Super College, 5:30 p.m.
Sept. 28 — at Faith Baptist, 4 p.m.
Oct. 2 — Dakota County Technical College, 6 p.m.
Oct. 5 — at Alexandria Technical and Community College, 3 p.m.
Oct. 9 — at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, 4:30 p.m.
Oct. 15 — Faith Baptist, 5:30 p.m.
Oct. 20 — Madison College, 4 p.m.
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