As a defender on her club team, Lockport’s Bella Diorio was used to stopping goals and assisting on them, not scoring them.
Playing her lone season of high school soccer as a senior this spring, Diorio — a TCU recruit — moved to forward and wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
All she did was score the most goals in a season in program history, pouring in 41 while leading the Porters to a program-record 21 wins.
“I didn’t decide to play this year because I wanted to score the most goals,” Diorio said. “I wanted to play because it was something new. It was less stressful than anything I’ve done before.
“I wanted to have fun, meet new people and work on things I’d never done before, and with that came a lot of great accomplishments and goals I achieved that I never thought I was going to. I’m grateful for that. It never would have happened without my teammates and coaches.”
Diorio, the 2023 Daily Southtown Girls Soccer Player of the Year, spent some time around the Porters’ team last season and was excited to be a part of it.
“She ended up filming some of our games last year, and I could hear her up in the box yelling to the girls, stuff like, ‘Where’s your energy?'” Lockport coach Todd Elkei said. “She was into it and wanting to help the girls.
“She came up to me last spring and told me she was playing her senior year. She always wanted to do it, and I know she had no regrets. Neither did we.”
Elkei told Diorio that he needed a goal scorer, and the longtime defender was willing to give forward a shot.
“On defense, I play more of an attacking style anyway,” Diorio said. “I usually assist, not score, though. It took me a couple games to work on my shooting. I wasn’t really scared to make a mistake or lose the ball or miss a shot.
“When he told me that was what my role was going to be, I was happy. Whatever the team needed me to do is what I was there to do.”
It didn’t take long for Diorio to look like someone who had been scoring goals her whole life.
“At the beginning, she’d dribble at the keeper and kind of shoot right away,” Elkei said. “That built over the year where she was like, ‘OK, I’m going to put a move on her and then put it in.’ The evolution of her in a new position was fun to watch it. She embraced it and ran with it.
“Then casually in class one day, she was like, ‘What’s the all-time record for goals?’ I told her, ‘You’re on your way, kid.'”
Diorio shattered the program record of 27 set last season by Karolina Stasik. Diorio added 20 assists while helping the Porters (21-3-1) win the SouthWest Suburban Blue championship and the second regional title in program history.
It took defending Class 3A state champion Metea Valley to knock the Porters out 4-2 in a sectional semifinal, with Diorio scoring both Lockport goals.
“Bella is such a great player,” junior forward Heather Canny said. “We have so much confidence in her that when she gets the ball she’s going to score a goal or set one of us up to score.”
Diorio said she felt fully embraced by her new teammates this season. Regardless of any statistics, she had the time of her life.
“I told some of my teammates that soccer shouldn’t be a stressful thing,” Diorio said. “People ask me how I do this or that, and I tell them that I don’t really think when I’m on the field. I just do it.
“When you’re playing a sport that you love, you shouldn’t have to think too much about it. Just do it and have fun doing it.”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
