Through the first seven games of this season the girls’ soccer team equaled their total number of wins from last season: five.

After the strong start, the team has let some close games get away, but they are confident they have the quality to turn the season around.
Losing six seniors in a year hurts any team, but a strong core of juniors has helped the team turn the program around.

“I think we have done a lot better this season. As a team, we are all working much harder together and winning more games, and we have just had a positive season so far,” junior captain Maddie Riley said.

The returning varsity players all had the same things to say about the drastic difference between this season and last season.

“So far this season has definitely gone a lot better than the last one. The whole team dynamic has changed, everyone gets along, and everyone plays as a team instead of just a bunch of individuals,” junior captain Jules Micchia said.

Five. That is the number of games the girls have lost by two goals or fewer so far this season.

“We need to work on finishing, because we only get so many chances per game, and we need to take advantage of them and put the games away,” sophomore Allison Gauley said.

There are twelve underclassmen on this year’s squad, and, to them, their youth comes with a sense of freedom to just play.

“As we keep getting older and playing, we are going to gain experience, and we don’t have a lot of pressure on us right now, so we play more freely,” sophomore Hannah Dion said.

With all that young talent, the future of the program looks bright.

“The young girls have brought in a refreshing wave of talent. Each year we have a good number of freshmen, and this year most of them play a good amount of minutes. To have fresh legs and more players is good and it helps build the program,” Micchia said.

Last season’s captains have been described as “dictators” by a few of the returning players, and going into this season the upperclassmen wanted to change that feel.

“The captains this year have helped everyone to get along better, and now the girls can feel like their captains are people they can trust and talk to rather than people they are scared of,” senior captain Leslie Blalock said.

Leadership is very important, and this season the four captains, three juniors and one senior, have really been an asset to the team on and off the field

“Being a captain, I know that all of us try to make it as comfortable as we can for all the girls. We are close with everyone, there is no division in grades and it seems like we don’t even think about that. The captains are just there as leaders and to be the backbone and support the team not be dictators,” Micchia said.

Since their 5-2 opening of the season, the Cougars have proceeded to an 8-11 record with a recent 3-1 win against Enloe on senior night. The players are still hopeful that with some good play they can end the season strong.

Micchia said, “We still have a chance, but we lost two games that we should have won that would have put us in a good spot. Now, we have to win games that will be more difficult to pull off, but we can do it if we play the way we know how with passion and skill.”