Logan Montel received a passionate introduction to the game of soccer by splitting six years of her childhood in Italy and Germany before moving to Virginia when she was around the age of 8.

Now a high school junior, she is a key reason why King’s Fork High School’s girls’ soccer team is establishing itself as one of the best in the area.

Lady Bulldogs coach Mike Marston has noted that 80 percent of the team’s possessions run through its central midfielders, which are sophomore Rebecca Washburn and Montel.

Often an offensive facilitator, Montel got to be the one frequently kicking the ball in the net on April 16 against visiting Indian River High School. During the 8-1 victory, she scored four goals and registered an assist, which led to her becoming the Duke Automotive-Suffolk News-Herald Player of the Week.

“Since it was not a really competitive game, the whole team was working on different parts that they could improve on,” she said. “I really wanted to get some goals for my name, because I have about 15 assists this season. I’m ready for some goals!”

Marston said, “I think it was definitely the most accurate her shot’s been.”

She said one of her goals came on a penalty kick, and she got an assist on at least two of her other scores from sophomore striker Cydney Nichols, who finished that game with four assists and two goals.

Aside from her assists and goals she contributes, Montel is able to be a leader for the Lady Bulldogs with her attitude and approach to the game.

“Definitely I’m the most vocal person on the field,” she said, noting communication raises the team’s intensity.

“Logan is intense from the second that she steps on the field,” Marston said. “The rest of the team feeds off of that.”

Given that 80 percent of the team’s possessions run through her and Washburn, he said, “It’s a lot of pressure. She’s really maturing and handling that pressure well.”

It is a tough job, but Montel has shown a willingness to tackle challenges, like in seventh grade, when she played as a starting cornerback for the King’s Fork Middle School football team.

She said Bulldogs varsity football coach Joe Jones wants her to kick for the team next year, but she said that is unlikely due to the potential for injury.

Montel has verbally committed to play college soccer for Christopher Newport University.

Her initial exposure to the game of soccer came in Europe, where the sport is exceedingly popular. Italy and then Germany temporarily became her home because of her mother’s job in the Navy.

Montel said she and her brother would take part in pick-up games, wherever they could play them. The young competition there was skilled.

“They definitely know what they’re doing,” she said.

While she lived in Germany in 2006, the World Cup was held there.

When she and her brother would watch it on TV, “we watched it with all the neighborhood kids in one big room,” she said. Seeing the way the local teenagers talked about soccer, “it made me gain respect for the game.”

After moving to Virginia, Montel played organized soccer for the first time with the Suffolk Youth Athletic Association. She later moved on to Beach Football Club, and she also has played for the state team in the Olympic Development Program, which allowed her to go back overseas and play in France.

In addition to playing soccer, she swam as an underclassman, and she said, “I think I’m going to try out for volleyball next year.”