After an exciting and intense shootout, Varsity girls soccer won the third round of their playoffs, quickly advancing to the fourth round. Their excitement throughout their advancements kept their drive high, motivating them to play as hard as they could.
“The pressure during the game was the most challenging part of playoffs, because everyone is counting on you to make the save and not make a mistake,” goalie Callie Gilliam, sophomore, said.
Within soccer, having a goalie during the game is important, especially when going into overtime and having to do a shootout, because that’s when the game truly begins to depend primarily on the goalie.
“Goalie is important to have due to it being the backbone of the team, there is no other position like it and no one can relate to it.”
Shootouts are when both the teams are tied still after overtime, the teams pick 5 players to take turns trying to score while the goalie tries to block them. The team who scores the most points will be the winning team.
“The shootout was very nerve racking and intense, I remember being pretty nervous but determined to help my team,” Gilliam said.
During the fourth round, the Regional matchup, the team was up 2-1 for most of the game, but in the end took a loss of 2-3.
“I am so incredibly proud of this team and the effort they gave,” head coach Kim Blank said. “We gave them a fight, just as we have done all post season long. I am so blessed to coach the amazing kids and to caoch alongsode two of the best, Coach Speer and Coach Rivera.”
Although the team ended their season earlier than they would have liked, it was a learning experience and the players were able to see what they need to improve on for next year’s season.
“For next year’s season I am going to improve myself by staying on my mark because I did struggle with that a little bit this season,” Sophomore Olivia Mitchell said. “My defensive skills made a difference during playoffs especially when this really fast girl was on me so I was able to stop her from scoring.”
During the first round of playoffs senior Marguerite Funk scored the three points causing the team to win 3 – 1 that game.
“I feel really satisfied with my overall performance during that game, I was excited to help lead my team to the next round of playoffs,” Funk said.
Making memories during the games has a strong impact on the team and it keeps them motivated to do their best during all the games no matter what the outcome is.
“One memory I will always remember is blasting music on the way back from the first round with my teammates, because everyone was ecstatic from the win so we were all screaming the songs as loud as we could.”