She shoots…she scores! Four of the most exciting words in soccer, and the girl’s soccer team has been saying them a lot recently.
The team started their season by winning or drawing in the first 7 matches of the year with key wins over Goshen, Snider, and South Bend Saint Joe. Their first loss came at the hands of Penn on the road last week 4-1. Head coach Rick Smith said, “Four out of our nine seniors start… they know full well what the expectation is… a state title.”
That goal is well within reach as of right now as the team traveled down to HSE this past weekend and beat the number one team in the nation 1-0 on a last-minute goal from Natdia Ford.
Senior goalkeeper Rachel Bova on the win over Hamilton South Eastern, “We have never beaten them before… it was a huge morale boost for us and shows that we can go down and beat those Indy area teams.”
With six games remaining the #4 Chargers look to finish strong before sectionals, key games include Northrop, Homestead, Canterbury, and Warsaw. “This team can make it to the regional but that is where we are a bit shaky,” Bova said.
Check back in a little while to see how this team shakes out before Sectionals.
On the other side of the ball, the boys’ team is close to matching the level of play from the ladies going 8-2 with a huge test against Northrop. It started with a goal from Finn Stafford in the 1st half to put the Chargers up 1-0 with another goal soon after by Jones to put 9-0 Northrop on the ropes. A few nice saves in the 1st half from Dominic Dempsey helped the Chargers keep their lead. The Bruins fired back with a goal with 3 minutes to go in the first half. Nothing notable happened in the second half. Final 2-1 Chargers.
The season started a little slow their only two losses coming in their first four games to Warsaw on the road and Cathedral at home. Since then it has been a streak of success for the Chargers with six wins in a row including perineal powerhouse Canterbury, SAC opponent Bishop Dwenger, and Concord. Coach Zach England talks about his team’s success so far this year, “Throughout the year we have really improved defensively. Judging by our play and the other scores in the state we could go really far this season. The players are motivated to do well in the postseason and get to state.”
Derrick Lanning talks about the role the seniors play on the team along with how this team can improve going forward, “We have a lot of chemistry playing with each the last 4 years and it really builds the team and helps build connections… We have to finish the shots that we get… we can’t have missed opportunities.”
With 4 regular season games remaining the biggest test is Homestead which will be a test because it’s senior night which always has high emotions.
If you want to watch the Charger’s home games which are against Homestead, East Noble, and Concordia for the Boys and Concord and Warsaw for the Girls you can live stream them HERE.
Check back the week before sectionals to get a primer for both teams.
