Northville girls soccer beats Belleville 5-0 in regional final

All it took was one phone call for Lauren Moraitis to confirm she was making the right decision.

Mentally, the senior was absolutely burned out.

And that can happen to star soccer players on the club circuit.

It’s a cut-throat, win-at-all-costs business. College scholarships aren’t just on the line here. So are opportunities to represent your country in international tournaments. And, probably in the near future, so will a chance to make money off your name, image and likeness.

Moraitis had given her club team about everything she had in her. She had done the work. She had earned a break.

And after she signed with Cincinnati last fall, the reality set in that she didn’t necessarily need to play at the highest level of travel anymore. Her spot to play college soccer with the Bearcats was reserved.

So she decided to do what many club plays do their senior year: Try out for her high school team.

But, first, she needed to make one phone call to confirm playing in high school would be a good fit for her.

“I told her high school is a great atmosphere, and she was just looking to relax and have fun before she goes to college,” first-year Northville coach Jeannine Reddy said. “I told her we try to have fun, and we obviously still want to work hard and accomplish a lot of things, but it’s about playing with the people you go to school with, playing in front of your community and having a lot of fun .