Record in sight: Claire Badger makes an immediate impact for Timpview
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- Timpview’s Claire Badger dribbles past a defender during her team’s 5-1 win over Alta. August 11, 2026
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- Timpview’s Claire Badger dribbles toward the goal during her team’s 5-1 over Alta. August 11, 2026
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- Timpview’s Ava Badger attempts a shot during her team’s 5-1 win over Alta. August 11, 2026
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- Timpview’s Claire Badger terminates just beyond the goal during her team’s 5-1 win over Alta. August 11, 2026
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- Timpview’s girls soccer team poses for photos following their 5-1 win over Alta. August 11, 2026
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- Timpview’s Ava Badger defends versus Alta during her team’s 5-1 win. August 11, 2026
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- Timpview’s Claire Badger races ahead of Alta’s defense. August 11, 2026
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- Timpview’s Maggie Barajas fires a shot toward the goal during her team’s 5-1 win over Alta. August 11, 2026
The girls soccer state record for total goals scored in a season may be in serious jeopardy.
Claire Badger took to the field for Timpview for just the second time after a complete year hiatus due to injury. One would think the junior striker may need some time to acclimate into the flow of the game, but that notion was proved laughably wrong early and often during the T-bird’s 10-0 romp over Juan Diego.
Badger’s contribution? It was a state-record tying eight goals scored.
Using her superior speed and ball skills, Badger wrecked some serious havoc on the Soaring Eagle’s defensive end, proving just about unstoppable.
“It was a fun game,” Badger said. “High school soccer is supposed to be fun, and I just wanted to go out there this season, have fun and score as many goals as I can, and I’m off to a good start.”
A good start indeed.
Through three games played Badger has notched 10 goals, and while she has a ways to go to match the mark of 71 goals scored during a single season by Waterford’s Seven Castain, it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility.
“I definitely want to get that record,” Badger said.
Perhaps the only thing that is slowing Badger down, at least initially, is her truncated playing time. With the goal in mind for each of his players to be at their best when the playoffs roll around, on top of Badger still working her way back from injury, T-bird coach James Pena elected to play his star forward just 40 of the 80 minutes during a 5-1 win over Alta on Wednesday. Despite her limited time, Badger still managed to score two goals while assisting on two others.
“We have a plan for these girls that we want to make sure that they’re progressing,” Pena said. “We want to make sure we look at the end goal completely. We’ve got three months of soccer, so there’s no need to rush these girls, in my opinion, so to put them in 80 minutes day in and day out with the calendar that we have. That’s kind of crazy.”
What is sort of crazy is the consistent pressure Badger can put on an opposing defense. Throughout Timpview’s win over Alta she proved dangerous every time she touched the ball, often working her way past defenders in creating legitimate goal-scoring chances for herself and her teammates.
“She’s very creative,” Pena said. “I think her mindset comes because she watches a lot of soccer, and she plays a lot of soccer. She’s with a fantastic group of girls that trust her, that believe in her, and that will let her do what she does best. I think that’s where a lot of this comes from. There’s a lot of trust within this group.”
A big part of Timpview’s group turns out to be Claire Badger’s older sister, senior Ava Badger, who led the T-birds in scoring a season ago. In Tuesday’s win Ava scored a a goal while proving about as dangerous as her younger sister.
“The Badger sisters are one of a kind, is the way I see it,” Pena said. “The trust is very, very strong within this group, and those two trust each other for everything. So, them being able to combine on the field, to be themselves, to be able to express the way that they do–I mean, it’s fantastic! Because it’s what you want on a team, and especially with a group that falls behind them and trusts them to do what they do best. As coaches, all we have to do is just let them be themselves.”
According to Claire she’s been playing soccer since she was just two years old, and as one could easily imagine, Ava has been there with her every step of the way.
“We’ve always been super competitive with each other and neck-and-neck all growing up,” Claire said. “We train together and we’ve been playing with each other for as long as I remember and we definitely make each other better.”
As for Claire, she’s been playing at a top level for a while now, and the state is about to learn just how dangerous she can prove to opposing defenses if they haven’t already.
“Claire is a little bit of everything. She’s very dynamic, very humble, very hardworking,” Pena said. “She’s a girl that just shows up, plays soccer, does what she’s told, and enjoys playing this, most importantly. She enjoys this so much, she plays with so much joy, and she plays with a smile on her face. So, I think that’s where her creativity comes from. She’s just a fantastic girl to have in this group.”
As for Pena’s group, they’ve been impressive early in the season, which has come to no surprise to Pena.
“We have a very deep squad. I think that’s the benefit that we have this year because we’ve planned it out,” he concluded. “When I first got here, it was a long-term project for these girls to not just get to know each other, but to play well with each other, to be able to grow, and for them to be able to have the season that they’re having. But like I said, it’s just the beginning. We don’t want to think too far ahead of it, but I think the girls are doing a fantastic job.”
