Merced’s Salm and Esquivel share Girls Soccer POY honors

Niccole Salm and Hannah Esquivel weren’t friends.

To hear the two Merced soccer stars tell it, they were barely acquaintances. Despite being the same age and growing up in a relatively small area, the pair had never been teammates before their freshman year and only rarely crossed paths as opponents.

It was a common goal that brought the two together. Missing out on the Central California Conference title by a single point their junior season left a foul taste in the mouths of the senior class. From last summer on, the pair were rarely apart.

With games that complement one another perfectly, Salm and Esquivel assumed the leadership reins for the 2015 Bears. The pair tied for the team lead with 33 points and helped lead Merced to the No. 3 seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs and the first girls soccer home playoff game in school history. It’s earned them Sun-Star co-Girls Soccer Players of the Year recognition.

“I’m not sure either of us is as successful without the other,” Esquivel said. “I probably don’t score as many goals without her setting me up and she probably doesn’t get as many assists without me making runs. We balance each other out.

“It’s pretty hilarious that it took us this long to bond, but I think this year helped make us better players.”

Salm is the finesse player, wanting the ball constantly at her feet and running the show from center midfield. She paced Merced with 13 assists and added 10 goals. Esquivel is the workhorse. Not afraid to sacrifice her body and mix it up in traffic, Esquivel would dissect teams with penetrating runs off of the ball. She led the Bears with 12 goals and added nine assists.

“Our styles really are perfect for each other,” Salm said. “Hannah makes such great runs off of the ball, I don’t even need to look, I know where she’s going to be. I’m most comfortable when the ball is at my feet and when I’m dictating the game.

“I watch a lot of the U.S. women’s national team games and really try to pattern myself off of how they control a game.”

The pair have developed the kind of chemistry that most tandems can only achieve after numerous years of playing together. With both set to attend and play at UC Merced in the fall, Bears and Bobcats coach Megan Atoigue looks forward to seeing where that partnership could evolve with four more years together.

“They just play really well together,” Atoigue said. “Niccole is the playmaker and Hannah is the one that makes the runs and does the dirty work. Both of them have a love and a passion for soccer and work hard every day in practice.

“That and their natural leadership skills are why I believe they’ll be really successful in college.”

Despite being a part of the most successful senior class in Bear girls soccer history, the pair departs with a feeling of unfinished business as they just missed out on the CCC crown again. Merced was two minutes away from capturing the first girls soccer title in school history in the final game of the regular season when a late equalizer by Golden Valley handed it to Turlock.

“It still hurts,” Salm said. “I looked up at the empty girls soccer banner in the gym my freshman year and swore I’d help put one up there. To just miss out that last two years was tough. I guess the good news is UC Merced has never won a conference title, either, so Hannah and I have four more years to finish what we started.”

This story was originally published June 18, 2015 at 11:52 PM with the headline "Merced’s Salm and Esquivel share Girls Soccer POY honors."