Boyle County head coach Brian Deem couldn’t find the words to explain Chelsea Moore.

The senior led the Rebels to a 16-7-1 record and their 11th-straight 45th District championship, scoring 19 goals and assisting 10 more along the way. She’s the Advocate-Messenger girls’ soccer area player of the year.

“I can’t say enough great things about Chelsea Moore as a person,” Deem said. “This is a kid that has great courage, great strength and great character. To be able to go through what they did, going into a senior year, that took a lot of guts and a lot of trust in their family. I think that’s a testament to them.”

Moore moved to Boyle County from Mercer County and Deem said she clicked right away.

“She was very open to our style of coaching, she was definitely open to how we ran things and very receptive to it,” the coach said. “She’s a great talent on the field, she’s got great speed, she’s got skill. I was really able to challenge her and she never backed away from a challenge. She was never resistant, she was always receptive. That told me that I could challenge her more and push her more. I think that’s a testament to her character and courage.”

Practices were brutal and the Rebels’ schedule was unforgiving this season, but that’s just what Moore needed to grow, she said.

“The intensity of the practices and the competitive atmosphere helped me improve as a player,” Moore said. “It’s important to listen to my coaches and the advice they give me about the game. I respect their instruction. They’re only trying to help me improve as a player and teach me to make the best decisions on the field.”

What Deem said most people didn’t see about Moore was her ability to draw opponents away from her teammates.

“They had to be aware of her, which opened up the play of some of our other kids,” Deem said. “She was definitely somebody that we utilized in the middle and up top. She’s got great vision and was able to play long diagonal passes. She did a great job understanding what our style of play was about, and by doing that, I think it allowed her to be a more well-rounded player. It allowed her to play positions that she wasn’t accustomed to and helped grow her game, master her craft, before she goes off to college.”

Moore’s favorite target for goals was teammate Chelsea Elmore, who scored 21 goals to lead the Rebels. Elmore, Abby Carter and Becca Tarter all made the All-Area team. Emily Knetsche was an honorable mention.

Carter was injured against Assumption late in the year, and Deem said it was Moore who picked up the slack in the midfield.

“She did it all throughout the season when we had big games,” Deem said. “I thought she did a great job tying the game at Assumption. Abby goes down, everyone knows it’s bad and she just said, ‘come on, let’s go.’ She did a great job taking over that game and tying it 1-1. You saw everyone struggling with what was going on and she helped move us forward. She definitely has that capability and she really showed that.”

Moore said that she was just trying to do her best to help the team.

“After Abby got injured, there seemed to be a lull in our following games,” she said. “You can’t replace a player like Abby Carter, but there were times when I had to fall back into the midfield and do the best that I could to fill that void.”

As the postseason drew near, Deem said he started challenging Moore to take an even bigger attacking role in the team. No matter where she was on the field, he wanted her beating her opponent.

“In the district games, I kept challenging her to attack more,” he said. “She did and I saw it in the last two or three weeks of the season, her confidence growing and growing in doing that and taking kids on, one-on-one. With the injury to Abby (Carter), we moved her around in the midfield and she was able to do that, while controlling the midfield. In the West game, she did a great job keeping the midfield balanced throughout the game. That’s one of the things that West tries to do, control the midfield, and I thought she was a great neutralizer for them.”

Moore said that she gained confidence because her team and coaches had confidence in her.

“After coach Deem told me that I needed to take more players 1-on-1, it made me feel that if he was confident in my ability to do this, then I should be too,” Moore said. “I trusted my speed and touches when I had the ball.

“My mindset during the playoffs was to get the ball in the back of the net, at that point it’s all or nothing. I worked to help my team push the ball up the field in order to create opportunities to score.”

Moore is verbally committed to play soccer at Western Kentucky. She said she plans to sign in February.

Deem said that it was a joy to coach such a talented athlete.

“Just to be able to work with her and see her laugh, work hard, accept challenges, all while knowing that she is going to be a special player when she goes to the college,” he said. “Plus knowing that she’s a special person. She’s a great kid. I really feel fortunate that we got an opportunity to see her play and to coach her, even if it was for a year. It was an honor and I think that kids were receptive to her. A lot of times kids can get jealous, but she’s a Rebel. She’ll always be a Rebel. You’re a Rebel forever and that’s one of the things she’s proud of. Whatever adversity came her way, she took them in stride.”