Audubon, Fadio emerging this season

Chelsea Fadio remembers the moment she found out about the Audubon girls' soccer scoring record.

It was about 20 minutes before she broke it.

"I walked up to my mom to get my drink at halftime," Fadio said. "And she told me I was one goal away.

"I figured I should probably go out and try to score a goal."

She did.

In a Sept. 29 win over Sterling, Fadio, just a junior, netted the 58th goal of her career, making her Audubon's all-time leading goal-scorer, breaking a mark set in 2003 by Noelle Bissinger.

And it's fitting that the record was kept a secret.

The story of this season for Audubon has been its emergence as a serious threat in South Jersey Group 1. The Green Wave moved up to the ultracompetitive Colonial Conference Liberty Division this year, and they have held their own against competition including Haddonfield and West Deptford.

Fadio has been a major reason for that, of course, but she's most proud of the fact that she hasn't done it all herself.

"Breaking a record was never something I even thought about," said Fadio, who plans to play in college, but is undecided about where.

"It's a great achievement, and I'm proud that I was able to break the record. But I know I would never have broken it if it wasn't for my teammates."

Fadio, in fact, leads Audubon in assists as well as goals. She's paired 15 scores - giving her 69 for her career - with 12 assists for the 10-3 Green Wave.

Her assists have served to instill confidence in her younger teammates, to help them advance their game and prepare for a deep playoff run.

Her goals? Well, they're mostly just fun to watch.

"There's an art to being a great finisher, and she's a great finisher," Audubon coach Bill Scully said. "To me, goal-scorers find ways to finish in big games. Chelsea had 12 game-winning goals in our 15 games last season.

"She doesn't pile it on against weaker teams. She finds ways to score in big games. And that is the definition of a great goal-scorer. She scores when it matters. And she's continued that this season."

Breaking a scoring record tends to grab the attention of opposing teams, and that has been no different for Fadio.

Defenses have paid extra attention to the speedy and accurate striker since last season, and it hasn't slowed her.

Fadio had either the game-winning goal or assist in each of Audubon's first five wins this season. She most recently scored the winner in Tuesday's 1-0 triumph over division rival Haddonfield - yet another signature win for the up-and-coming Green Wave.

It was yet another case for Fadio as one of South Jersey's most underrated scorers.

She cites composure as perhaps her greatest strength.

She's quick with the ball, she can beat defenders one on one, and she can score with ease from distance.

And, no, she's not focused on records - but breaking the all-time scoring mark did give her an idea.

"After I broke the record, I started to think it might be cool to score 100 goals," Fadio said. "So that's my new goal. But, really, that's not on my mind.

"What I love most about soccer is just the team atmosphere, that rush you get when you win a game. That's what's really made me fall in love with the game."