There are few things more inevitable than the trajectory of a season spent with Rose Ripslinger, the Iowa-bred striker who did something no one else ever has earlier this month.

Expect wins. In the course of her four-year career at Assumption High School in Davenport, Iowa, Ripslinger’s teams have lost a paltry five combined games while racking up more than 80 victories. At one point, Ripslinger was involved in a streak of 51 consecutive wins. That’s a state record. She can’t remember all the myriad games she’s won, but it takes her less than 10 seconds to count up every loss she’s ever suffered.

Expect goals. Ripslinger scored at least 28 in each of her first three high school seasons, and she did it while running track (ably, too - she’s the defending 100 meter state champ) on the side. She’s already hit 15 goals this season, and she’s no ball hog. She’s accounted for more than 50 assists over the same frame.

Expect titles. Ripslinger has never ended a high school season without a trophy ceremony. She earned the starting gig up top before her freshman season, and she helped guide Assumption to three Class 1A state titles in three years. She’s currently on the hunt for a fourth.

Finally, expect honors. On the regional level, Ripslinger’s won every individual plaudit there is to win. On the national level, count her experience the same. Earlier this week Ripslinger was named Iowa’s Gatorade Player of the Year for an incredible fourth consecutive year. Across all sports, it’s the first time in the 29-year history of the award that a player has won their state’s honor all four years.

All in a day’s work for the University of Iowa-bound striker, whose high school career is now literally without peer. 

“It really hasn’t hit me yet,” Ripslinger told TopDrawerSoccer.com “I really haven’t had time to think about what it all means. But it’s just awesome. It’s quite the honor, and it’s definitely something that stands in my memory, when I found out (I won the award) every year.”

It’s perhaps a credit to Ripslinger’s work ethic and incredible speed that her high school career has been without relative turbulence. Thanks in part to the constant competitive atmosphere fostered by three older sisters, Ripslinger earned her starting spot her freshman year and hasn’t let go of it since. She joined an illustrious club by passing 100 career goals earlier this season, and Assumption is currently diving toward the postseason as the odds-on favorites to win a fourth straight state title. She cites her toughest year as her sophomore season, but even that comes with a caveat - Assumption didn't lose a game that season.

But it didn’t always seem so preordained.

“I didn’t even know if I was going to make varsity before my freshman year or what that whole deal was going to be,” she said.

It didn’t take long for her speed and finishing ability to drop some jaws, and the most memorable of her 100-plus goals isn’t hard for her to pinpoint. Assumption worked its way into the state title game against Union LaPorte City her freshman year, and the Knights were holding on to a 2-1 lead when Ripslinger found herself on a breakaway. With three seconds left, she chipped the keeper to make it 3-1 and start the celebration early.

A freshman with the moxie of a senior.

“That’s probably my favorite goal,” Ripslinger said. “It’s the one that always sticks out in my memory.”

Ripslinger carved a parallel track with the Iowa City Alliance, her club side based in Iowa City, where she’ll ultimately head to play college soccer with the Hawkeyes. Last summer, her Alliance side won the U.S. Youth Soccer Championship in Kansas City after the team become the first from Iowa to win the U.S. Youth Soccer Region II title.

Ripslinger is currently on the warpath, attempting to sew up her final high school season with an incredible four state titles in four years. But in a lot of ways, she’s already elevated her name to a previously unattained place in the annals of high school soccer in America. 

“I’m trying to soak in every moment of it,” Ripslinger said. “I’m realizing how quickly things have gone, and I’m just trying to make the best of every memory, every situation, every game. It’s gone by so fast, and I’ve loved every moment of it. It’s been a crazy ride. I really don’t think it could’ve gone any better.”

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