Something happened unexpectedly.
While he darted to the net with a quality scoring opportunity in a late-season Mission League match last year, Nick Swart suffered a left dislocated shoulder after he collided with an opponent. Swart winced in pain.
The pain persisted, causing Swart, a star junior forward for the St. Francis High boys' soccer program, to miss several matches.
"I could feel the pain when I fell on it," Swart said.
He's since recuperated, and is now a top scorer for a revitalized St. Francis squad that's on the verge of qualifying for the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs in two weeks. The Golden Knights (22-4, 8-2 in league) are entrenched in second place in league with two regular-season matches remaining.
Swart's a key reason why the Golden Knights have shown vast improvement since they finished 8-13-4 and 4-6-2 last season and were eliminated by host Hart, 4-0, in a Division III first-round match. The shoulder injury has healed and the Golden Knights are revitalized.
The 16-year-old Swart worked hard throughout the offseason with Jeff Sandoval, who is his private coach and also heads the La Cañada Flintridge-based LAFC Flyers. Swart worked closely with Sandoval on shooting skills and positioning so the odds of another injury would be reduced and scoring chances would be greater.
"We practice three or four times a week and he just told me to stay composed when there's an opportunity to score," said the 5-foot-11 Swart, who has notched 18 goals and seven assists for 43 points in 26 matches played this season for the Golden Knights. "You don't want to get too excited and you don't want to make any mistakes when there's a good scoring chance."
Swart, who finished with two goals to help St. Francis record a 4-0 league win against visiting Crespi on Thursday, hasn't made many mistakes this season.
He's also been assigned to take most of the team's penalty kicks and hasn't disappointed. He converted on a penalty kick with about 90 seconds remaining to give the Golden Knights a 2-1 nonleague home victory against powerhouse Thousand Oaks on Dec. 6.
Less than a week later, Swart and teammate Nick Posthuma, who leads the team with 24 goals, each scored two goals to lead St. Francis to a 4-0 victory against Valencia in the championship match of the 15th annual Ralph Brandt Tournament at St. Francis High's Friedman Field. It marked the first time since 2001 that the Golden Knights had captured the tournament crown.
