Some people on the Southern Regional High School campus probably figured Brinley Reynolds someday would contend for the girls soccer program’s career goals record. She had it in her mind the day she wrote the “Letter to My Future Self” in Melissa Bucci’s English class.

“I didn’t know what the record was, but I wrote that my long-term goal was to break the record,” said Reynolds, who scored her 46th goal during the 48th minute of the Rams’ 5-0 victory over Marlboro on Oct. 20. “I never thought I’d get it by my junior year.”

Reynolds broke Gianna Simon’s mark of 45 career goals on an assist from Lily Atkins. The play developed when Atkins sent a ball forward from near midfield. Reynolds ran onto it about 30 yards from goal, dribbled into the penalty area as two defenders converged, then unleashed a left-footed strike from about 14 yards that beat the opposing goalkeeper to her left side and into the far corner of the goal.

“It still kind of feels unreal,” Reynolds said. “I’ve had this goal since freshman year, so it really hasn’t hit me yet that I’ve done it. But the fact I did by my junior year is something to be proud of.”

Not surprising given Brinley’s humility, even going into this season she had no idea how close she was to setting the mark – mainly because she was still 20 goals away from it.

ON TOP: The celebration begins after Brinley Reynolds breaks the girls soccer program’s career goals record. She added a goal later in the second half, and she has several more games this season and her senior year to add more.

“Going into this season, I didn’t have any thought that I was close to it, so I didn’t care much about it,” she said. “Next thing I know, everybody was telling me I was two goals away, and that was a shock. I figured I’d get closer to it next year.”

Reynolds has been difficult to stop during the past month or so. After she scored once during a loss to Raritan on Sept. 17, she scored at least two goals in eight of the 11 games leading up to last Tuesday’s clash against Marlboro.

After burying two goals against Hamilton West on Sept. 19, Reynolds scored four goals during a 7-1 bruising of Donovan Catholic on Sept. 21, then scored two during wins against Lacey, Neptune, Middletown South and Cumberland and Southern’s only two goals in a 3-2 loss to Manasquan on Oct. 13, when she tied Simon’s previous record.

“I never played with Gianna,” Reynolds said. “My mom told me that I used to watch her shoot around all the time at the Stafford fields when I was little. I don’t remember much about it, but I definitely knew about her. Obviously, she was a great player.”

Interestingly, as she neared greatness herself – when she finally realized how close she was to breaking Simon’s record – Brinley didn’t feel any pressure.

“I get a little nervous for some games, but I don’t really feel pressure to do anything specific,” she said. “When I realized I was that close, I figured I had another year to break the record, so I wasn’t pressuring myself to get it. That’s not the way I play. My priority is that we win games.”

With two games scheduled this week, and the state tournament next week – as of this weekend, the Rams were eighth in power points for the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 4 section, so they could run into top-seeded Egg Harbor in the quarterfinals – Reynolds will have several opportunities to add to the record prior to her senior season.

Of course, she already had started doing that against Marlboro, when she scored an unassisted goal during the 70th minute.

“Some people have talked to me about making the record unreachable, but I don’t really care about that,” she said. “I don’t like bragging about myself. It’s best to stay humble. Whatever it ends up being is fine with me. I’ll keep playing the way I play, and whatever happens is going to happen. I have to start focusing a little more on getting into a college program. I’d like to play Division I, so that’s the next personal goal for me.”