Record-setting Davidson leads charge for Edison

MILAN TWP. — When a soccer ball finds Alex Davidson's foot, there's a good chance it will end up in the back of the net. Davidson, a senior at Edison, is putting together a season for the record books with 52 goals entering tournament play. The attacking midfielder has doubled the previous school record for goals in a season and ranks No. 18 nationally among programs that report statistics to MaxPreps. "It's my last ride, senior year, so I'm trying to make the best of it before I go off to college," Davidson said. "I'm just having fun with my guys. They know how to get me the ball and I know how to put it in the back of the net." Davidson's spectacular play led Edison to a 16-0-1 regular season. The Chargers shared the Sandusky Bay Conference title with unbeaten Perkins. The two area powers battled to a 3-3 tie at Bolt Field in late September. Davidson scored two goals in the epic matchup that drew a big crowd to Edison. "We had 250 people here, I'd say," Davidson said. "Just scoring that first goal to take the lead felt amazing. They're a great team. It was nothing like I've ever played before." The Chargers, who are a top district seed in Division IV, open the postseason at home Thursday against Clyde. "We don't take any team lightly. We haven't all year and we're gonna keep that same mentality," Davidson said. "We want to win a district championship and hopefully get farther than that. We know there's some good teams out there so might as well get prepared for them now." It was evident from the first game this season that Davidson was ready to do something special. He scored eight goals — all in the first half — against Crestview. "I've watched Alex play since probably about U11 when he was at Wellington," Edison coach Nate Leimeister said. "He was playing against my boys and I knew he was really good. "I've watched a lot of kids play soccer and I've never seen someone put in as much work as he has. He's dedicated and wants to play in college. He enjoys it. You can see the smile on his face when he's playing." Edison wasn't smiling after getting knocked out of the tournament last year by Vermilion in a district semifinal. That loss laid the groundwork for this season as the Chargers put in extra time last winter. "That really set a spark in us," Davidson said. "One of the coaches would open up the field house and we would have captain-led practices. We'd do some drills and split up and play and have fun. That's nothing we've done the past three years. I'm glad we did it; we grew connected and introduced the freshmen to our team, which helped." The Chargers lost only one senior from last year's team — goalkeeper Gavin Mesenburg. Sophomore Kaden Mees has proven to be a quality replacement. Davidson is one of four seniors on this year's squad. Jose Serna Amaya, Kellen McDonnell and Wade Ruggles are the others. Edison has scored 144 goals — an average of 8.5 per game — while allowing only 12. Fifteen different players have scored goals. Sophomore Carter Jones has complimented Davidson with 28 goals while Serna Amaya has scored 24. Davidson, who lives in Norwalk, has 93 career goals, so it's possible he could reach 100 for his career. He scored four goals as a freshman, 11 as a sophomore and 26 as a junior. His 2024 output tied Ian Jansen for the most in program history, a record that stood for less than 11 months. Davidson also has 52 career assists — half of them coming this season. He is the focus of opposing defenses, but still scores plenty of goals while making his teammates look good. "I think I've been man-marked almost half the games this year," Davidson said. "When we played Elyria for our Senior Night, a kid would face guard me the whole game. That opens up space for a lot of my teammates." Davidson's footwork and quickness make him difficult to contain. So what's his range? "Probably 30 yards I'm thinking about it, if I have time to let it fly," he said. Davidson tries to mix it up, but his big right foot has proven to be a reliable weapon. "I try to work on my left foot to keep them honest," he said. "For football, it's all right foot so I figure that's where I get it from." Ah, football. Davidson has played that sport since his freshman year and has been Edison's varsity kicker the past three years. He has made 9 of 12 career field goal attempts with a long of 42 yards this season against Clyde. He's 132 for 145 on extra points (91 percent). "I finally convinced my parents to let me play and I went out and kicked JV my freshman year and that was fun," Davidson said. "I got the varsity spot my sophomore year and it's been a blast ever since." Davidson, who stands 5-foot-7 and weighs 145 pounds, has been credited with three career tackles, including a huge stop in last year's regional semifinal win against Eastwood. "We were up 21-7 and just scored," Davidson said. "I squibbed right and he ran toward the middle and popped out to my right and took it down the sideline. I just tried to get the angle so he didn't cut on me. He got past me a little bit so I grabbed the edge of pads and rolled over and took him out of bounds. "It was really nice because we got the stop. They were on like the 15-yard line and didn't score." Davidson also stands out off the field. He has a 4.0 grade point average and is a member of the National Honor Society. He wants to study electrical engineering in college. Davidson's standout soccer season has landed him on the watch list for the High School All-American Game in December in South Carolina. He's considering several college soccer offers, but currently is focused on finishing his senior year with more goals and more victories. "It's always great representing your community," Davidson said. "People come up to me and say 'good game' and stuff like that. I've been playing with Jose, Kellen and Wade for four years and it's gone by like that. "I've always had fun playing with them. It will be hard to take off the jersey for the last time."