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PROVO — Growing up in soccer, and all through her career at Bountiful High, Elena Medeiros was the passer, the maestro of her club and high school teams.
The 5-foot-3 all-state player used her speed and agility to set up her teammates with eye-popping assists, but she never saw herself as the goal-scorer on any of those squads.
The attitude continued through her first two years at BYU, where she was known more for setting up all-everything goal-scorer Ashley Hatch and the rest of BYU's vaunted recruiting class of 2013.
Before her junior season, BYU coaches sat down with Medeiros and made a significant demand of the Hawaii native: find a shot, and score some goals.
It's worked flawlessly.
"All my life I've always been the girl who sets people, who passes and gets those assists," said Medeiros, BYU's leading goal-scorer with five goals and an assist in 13 games played. "They told me they needed me to score goals. I think this year, I've made it more of a mental effort to think of when I can get my shot off instead of to whom I can pass to get their own shot off."
Medeiros leads No. 5 BYU (11-1-1, 3-0 West Coast Conference) against Pacific at 7 p.m. Saturday, looking to defend its 13-match home unbeaten streak — tied for the second-longest in the nation.
"I remember playing them last year; they were a very physical team with a very good defense," Medeiros said of the Tigers. "It was hard to get our rhythm going. We need to play within ourselves and set that tone early, and we'll be great."
BYU assistant coach Aleisha Rose spent hours after practices during Medeiros' sophomore year to try to get the midfielder to engage more in the attack. Rose saw a quick-striking ability in Medeiros that she had never seen before from a BYU player, but the biggest thing to unlocking that goal-scoring touch wasn't the technique gained in their postpractice sessions.
It was confidence.
"I think the biggest thing for Elena was recognizing how special she was," Rose said. "I don't think she realized the talents and gifts she had, and I think she's now starting to recognize how unique she is. The girl is quicker than anyone we've seen in our program's history. She can work in the tightest little space and find great opportunities for a pass or to get her shot off."
Medeiros had five goals and seven assists as a sophomore, but head coach Jennifer Rockwood recently moved the former 2012 Deseret News All-State First-Team selection to an attacking midfield role to unlock her offensive game even more.
The former Brave has excelled in that position, combining with fellow midfielders Michele Murphy Vasconcelos and Bizzy Phillips to lob 15 shots on goal — converting on a team-high 44 percent of them, including two game-winners.
"We want (Medeiros) to have the ball at her feet," Rockwood said. "She's playing so confidently now. She's always been a quick, technical player. But right now, she's one of the quickest players we've ever had in our program."
Medeiros' emergence also comes at a good time for BYU. Hatch, a Hermann Trophy candidate, has been sidelined for a month with a fracture in her knee, and Medeiros and sophomore Nadia Gomes have taken the scoring output on themselves.
Gomes has four goals and three assists on the season, which is tied with Hatch for the second-most goals on the team.
Through the injuries and extra leadership, Medeiros said the Cougars are building confidence to aim for a fourth straight WCC title and run in the NCAA Tournament.
"The players we have are the same as last year, but we are way more confident in ourselves and way more comfortable playing with each other," she said. "We know how each other play, how to lead into passes, to set them up for an opportunity to score. I think once we get that comfort and cohesiveness within the attacking group, that's when the magic starts to happen."
Medeiros has filled into a leadership role as a junior, and Rose said that's the biggest step she's taken since those extra training sessions a year ago.
"Coming in as a freshman, it's a new team, a new philosophy and a new style with different expectations. You're just trying to figure things out," said Rose, a four-time all-American midfielder. "Your sophomore year you start to get the hang of it.
"But now for Elena, she feels like this is her team. There are a few girls on the roster who you can sense own the team, and they are showing the leadership and competitiveness that raises the team. I think that's where she is at. She recognizes she can have a huge impact on the game."
Confidence and leadership have elevated Medeiros from a noteworthy recruit to BYU leader on the field.
"She's at a whole different level," Rockwood said. "Her freshman year, she played forward for us; she's got good quickness and speed, and we had our midfield set. Then in the spring, she came in as a true midfielder and she's played so well there.
"She's our leading goal scorer right now, so she has definitely been very coachable. If there's the ball at someone's foot, we want it with Elena right now."
