School: Pennridge
Favorite athlete: Jeremiah Trotter
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Scoring the overtime game winner against North Penn
Future plans: Marines/college soccer
Words to live by: “Live every day as if it were your last.”
One goal before turning 30: “Get my pilot’s license.”
One thing people don’t know about me: “I have nothing to hide!”
Marcus Noel hates to lose.
“It really doesn’t matter what I’m doing,” the Pennridge senior said. “I could be playing soccer, basketball or video games. Whatever it is - I am not going to lose at it. Whatever I’m doing - I have to win.”
It’s a mentality that has served Noel well this season. The Rams’ talented forward has scored 11 goals so far this season. Six of those were game winners – two came in double overtime wins over North Penn and Central Bucks South.
“They were absolutely huge,” coach Pete Valimont said of the OT goals. “They really turned around our season and have given us an opportunity to do as well as we’re doing right now.”
The Rams are 9-4 in Continental Conference play (12-5 overall), and Noel has been an impact player for the first-year coach.
“He’s very confident, and I say confident not cocky because there’s a difference between the two,” Valimont said. “He wants the ball in those pressure situations. He wants to be the go-to guy, and there have been a couple of games where he’s done that.
“He’s gotten the ball at the 50-yard line, taken on two or three guys and won us the game and big games at that. The younger guys look up to him. If he’s not playing on the field, our offense goes down a little bit. He’s a real good talent.”
Noel’s journey to Pennridge was anything but typical. He grew up in Harrisburg playing travel soccer for a club team in Coventry. When he was nine, Noel moved to Colorado with his family where he once again played club soccer and competed for his high school team, which won five of the last six state titles.
Noel moved east when he was a sophomore and immediately became involved in club soccer with Montgomery United while also joining the Pennridge squad.
“It definitely helped me get in with a bunch of kids I wouldn’t have gotten in with if I didn’t play soccer,” said Noel, noting that the east plays a different style of soccer. “Out west, it’s more touches on the ball and skill stuff. Here, it’s a tad bit more physical.
“I’ve been playing for three years out here at a pretty high level. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
At 6-3, Noel, who also plays basketball, is an imposing presence on the soccer field. His stature and his physical style of play have sometimes made him the target of other teams as well as officials.
“He’s tall, and he’s physical, and he’s gotten a couple of yellow cards going up for a 50-50 ball,” Valimont said. “He wins it, and the other guy’s on the ground sprawled out, and the refs think he went into the guy.
“It’s more him going up against a freshman, sophomore or junior defender, and he wins it.”
Noel takes the fact that he is sometimes targeted in stride.
“I am bigger than half the kids I play against, and I am a physical guy,” he said. “You can’t really do anything about the refs. You’ve got to go out there and do what you can do and see what they’re going to let you do and what they’re not going to let you do and play the game and abide by that.”
Noel has been active in Pennridge’s TOPS program that works with mentally challenged students. A captain, he has been a positive leader.
“Coming into the season, I heard he was a very physical and strong player with a lot of passion and emotion when he’s on the field,” Valimont said. “He’s shown that this year, but he’s also shown a lot of maturity and responsibility.
“Marcus has done a great job of getting the younger kids involved on the field. He’s demonstrated the qualities we’re trying to (instill) in our players, such as being accountable, being committed. Responsibility and trust are our core values, and he’s really shown them this season.
“I’ve been able to really rely on him to get certain things done before and after games and for getting the guys ready to play. He’s really stood out, and it shows.”
Valimont has been receiving phone calls expressing interest in Noel from Division One schools, most recently Villanova and Drexel.
“I’m really not sure what I’ll be doing,” said Noel, who also is giving consideration to following in the footsteps of his older brother Mike and joining the U.S Marines Corp. “I would love to play soccer in college. Hopefully it will come through.”
When it comes to personal highlights, Noel points to his team’s OT win over North Penn when he scored the game winner.
“I’m going to remember that for the rest of my life,” he said.
He’ll file that memory away with those of his club team playing days in Colorado.
“Some of the most memorable times were just being with my team and coach and just hanging out and just being a family basically,” he said.
And family is important to Noel, who credits his brother and father – both named Mike – for his fierce competitive drive.
“They are two of the most competitive people I have known, who have really pushed me to do what I am doing right now,” he said.
And right now Noel is making sure his final high school season is a memorable one.
