As the Toll Gate girls’ soccer team climbs back to Division I next season, it will be armed with the best player in the state.

It’s not even close, either. Hannah McNulty, the Warwick Beacon’s Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year, will return to the reigning Division II champion Titans for her senior season after scoring 56 goals as a junior. 

That goal total was 18 more than the next closest player, Johnston freshman Bianca Robbins, who had 34. Overall, McNulty tallied 64 points, which put a gulf between her and second-place Haley Tyler of West Warwick (45).

“I think just because she’s been playing since she was a young kid, and learning from her father who used to play soccer,” Toll Gate head coach Lonna Razza said about what makes McNulty so dynamic. “The finesse she brings to the game, she grew up loving the sport. The way she collects the ball, the way she gathers herself on the field. She’s not afraid to dump it off and get it back.”

The soon-to-be senior captain will lead Toll Gate during its first season back in D-I since 2013, which was a campaign to forget. The Titans went just 2-12 before having two successful years in D-II. 

McNulty will have her fair share of challenges in 2016, most notably trying to escape from double and triple teams that experienced D-I squads will put on her. Razza expects a combination of help from around the field and McNulty’s ability to wriggle out of those jams to solve the problem.

“From my standpoint, I would like to see her get more involved in coming back a little bit and making herself more available on the field to get the ball to,” Razza said.

Whether she is defended by two, three or four players, the Titans are undoubtedly a better team with McNulty on the field. It showed when they hoisted the D-II trophy this year, and it will again as they attempt to do the same in D-I.

“All the kids look up to her because of the way she plays,” Razza said. “She’s so good on the field. Having her presence and the way that she plays, she’s a role model for all of those kids. She has her funny side to her, which everybody has, but she has that drive to win.”

-J.M.

HONORABLE MENTION

Hannah Johnson, Pilgrim

Jordan Petrucci, Pilgrim

Kendra Howard, WV

McKenna Leahy, TG