For her efforts, Camacho was named the Dayton Daily News Athlete of the Week for the week of Aug. 9 through Aug. 16 through reader voting collected earlier this week at DaytonDailyNews.com.
“It’s such an honor,” she said. “I feel really blessed to be in this situation.”
The junior wouldn’t take all of the credit. Her defense had a lot to do with the shutout, she said.
“They were doing such a great job of covering areas that the shots I was getting weren’t as strong as they could have been without my defense,” Camacho said. “It was my my team’s communication and where they were (on the field). It was easy to tell people where to be, and I just was lucky enough to get my hands and body behind the ball.”
Camacho earned All-Southwestern Buckeye League second team honors last season as a sophomore. The Lumberjills went 14-5 last fall, winning a Division IV district title before falling to eventual state champion Cincinnati Summit Country Day in a regional semifinal.
“We’re building off a really strong season last year,” Camacho said. “We lost a couple of really good seniors that played a big role, but I feel like we as a team have really overcome that. My defense is incredible. I couldn’t be the player I am without them.
She believes that camaraderie fueled them to the victory against a talented CJ squad, she said.
“I feel like we’re just so tight as a team, we’re all friends outside of it, we hang out every day - we just love being around each other,” Camacho said. “I don’t know if we really should have won that based off skill, but we had just so much more heart, and we played together, and that’s what eventually led us to win.”
She got her nickname “Shady” at a young age and it stuck. Her mother Traci Camacho said the majority of people in the Oakwood community may not even know her real name.
“I think I was maybe three years old, and I walked into the living room and I saw my dad, and he asked for a hug,” she said, “so I gave it to him, and I walked out. About an hour later I came back, he asked for another one, and I said ‘No’ and he said it was shady, and it’s literally been with me ever since. I don’t remember life without being called Shady.”
The victory over CJ also gave her bragging rights. Her sister, Caroline Camacho, is a senior defender for the Eagles and has been a “really great sport” about the game.
It’s those friendships that keep her coming back to the field every day, she said. She started playing as a 10-year-old and recently wrapped up her club season with Kings Hammer in Northern Kentucky.
“I feel like my closest relationships today have came from soccer, and half my friends I wouldn’t have without it,” Camacho said. “I also just love the sport. It’s my favorite thing to do.”
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