Tied 1-1 in the biggest game of her college career, redshirt freshman Naomi Alvarez wanted to make history. Late in the first half, Alvarez gathered the loose ball at her feet, took a touch inside and ripped the ball into the net past the Northern Arizona goalkeeper to give Idaho the lead in the Big Sky championship last season.
The final whistle blew, and the Vandals were Big Sky tournament champions for the first time in school history.
“The feeling of it going in was incredible. I didn’t think it was going in, but I was so happy that it went in and that I could help my team win the championship. That game was just so incredible,” she said.
Before Alvarez was Idaho’s hero, she was an aspiring kid. Alvarez grew up in Portland, Oregon, and was kicking the soccer ball around from a young age.
“I started playing soccer at 6 in a local league with my dad as the coach and then progressed over time to something bigger,” she said.
As her career progressed, Alvarez attended Jesuit High School. Jesuit was ranked No. 1 in the nation during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. She helped lead the team to four consecutive league titles and state championships in 2018 and 2019.
Alvarez played varsity all four seasons, netting 22 goals and dishing out 17 assists. In her senior year, she wore the captain’s armband. Alvarez also excelled in the classroom at Jesuit. She was a four-year honor roll student, a member of the National Honor Society and served as a member of her high school’s student body cabinet in 2021.
Despite her excellence between the white lines and in the classroom, her recruiting process was a tough one, but she eventually found her way to the Palouse.
Alvarez arrived in Moscow in 2022 and decided to develop her game and get ready for collegiate competition.
“It was more difficult not being able to play right away and redshirting,” she said. “But I had a lot of good support from my teammates, trainers and coaches to do all my recovery so I could be the most fit and the strongest I could. But it was hard just watching for the first year, not being able to play any soccer.”
In Alvarez’s first true season, she appeared in 18 of the 19 games and netted two goals. Alvarez plays in a competitive position with forwards Maddy Lasher, Jadyn Hanks and Karli-Yoshida-Williams. Playing with those names in front of her has brought out the best in Alvarez on the field.
“Playing with such talented players pushes me to do my best. I love playing with Lash, Jadyn and Carly,” she said. “And the way we play together, we communicate so much, making it much easier to play with each other.
“Those are the only girls I hang out with. I hang out with them after practice, before practice. I’m just always with them,” she said. “We’re always spending time together because I think how much time we spend off the field correlates to how well we are on the field together because of how well our connection is with everyone. Our overall team chemistry is so amazing. I love every single girl on the team.”
Alvarez has accomplished a lot in her early career at Idaho and is poised to be a breakout star in the fall. It will make the Vandals’ forwards even more dangerous as they look to defend their Big Sky championship and get back to the NCAA tournament.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected]