What was already a strong high school career became one of the all-time greats for McKenna Wright in 2024.
The Hot Springs Lakeside senior followed three strong seasons with one of the best ever in the state as she scored 67 goals -- one shy the record 68 by Gentry's Amber Nicole Ellis in 2014.
Wright also cemented her name near the top of the state records for goals in a career (159) and a single game (six) to earn the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's All-Arkansas Preps Girls Soccer Player of the Year honor.
"She's the player that makes everybody around her better," Lakeside Coach Diana Judd said. "It's the competitive spirit that she has, whether it's in practice or game. One of the things that we really talked a lot about, and we tried to reinforce, is the way you practice is the way you're going to play in a game and the mental side of the game, and especially this year, she brought all of that together, and it just made her that much better of a player."
Coming into Wright's senior season, Judd was already on record watch after an assistant coach reminded her the forward had scored 92 goals to that point.
In Lakeside's first game, an 8-0 win over Texarkana, Wright got straight to work with four goals and an assist.
After Lakeside's first five games, which it won by a combined 31-1, Wright had already reached 18 goals and four assists.
If it wasn't already the game plan coming into the season, teams quickly realized they needed to send multiple bodies Wright's way to keep her in check -- or at least attempt to.
Judd, who began coaching at Lakeside in 2023, said she worked with Wright to get the killer instinct it would take to play through that level of attention.
"It was definitely one of those things where I had to explain to her, 'You got to want the ball,' " Judd said. "It was something where she had that within her. That was what we needed. It didn't matter if she was double-teamed, triple-teamed, that girl was always fighting to get open. She just had that internal drive that she wanted to be the goal-scorer."
Judd played college soccer at SMU and quickly realized Wright was different from most of the players on her roster. In preparation for her time at Ouachita Baptist University, where Wright signed to play for her father, Kevin, Judd coached the senior harder than any other player.
"With her, it was you're going to that next level," Judd said. "I'm going to coach you as if you're going to go to that next level. I've been there, so kind of giving her the ability to know and understand where I'm coming from, that I know what's going to be expected at that level, so I'm going to push you and she was very open to that.
"When you see that they want to go to that next level, it's exciting. It's exciting to be able to put the knowledge that you had of the game and give that to them."
With Wright leading the charge, the Rams bulldozed their way to an undefeated regular season and a 107-4 goal differential.
They then defeated Greenbrier 3-0 in the first round of the Class 5A state playoffs thanks to Wright's hat trick.
In her final high school game, Wright got one final goal as Lakeside fell 2-1 to Little Rock Christian in the state quarterfinals.
"Our team calls her the G.O.A.T.," Judd said. "I mean, the legacy is something that people are going to remember for years to come. You don't forget a player like McKenna Wright. And without a doubt, her goal-scoring ability will be missed."
Wright ended her career with the state's second-most career goals, only behind Central Arkansas Christian forward Haley Hatcher's 185.
On March 26, Wright scored six goals in a 7-0 win over El Dorado, tying her for the second-most goals ever scored in a game. She averaged 3.5 goals per game to go with 12 assists.
"I know how truly blessed I was to have the opportunity to get to coach such an amazing player like her, and she will truly be missed," Judd said. "I think just her spirit, the tenacity that she always played with and the competitiveness, we're going to miss that. I hope she knows how much she meant to this team and how much she meant to me as a coach to allow me to coach her the way that I did."
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