On Tuesday, Dec.17, the girls’ varsity soccer team suffered a close loss to the Marin Academy Wildcats 2-1, marking their first defeat of the season. The Giants pushed hard initially but picked up their game during the second half. The Wildcats took the match lead early, going into the half with a two-goal lead. The Giants scored midway through the second half, bringing the score to 2-1. The girls fought their hardest to connect as a team in a nail-biting game with a couple of injuries from both teams.
Senior Sarah Farese scored the first and only goal for the Giants, headed in from a corner kick by sophomore Teagan McCormick. They attempted to maintain possession of the ball, but with strong offense from the opposing team, it took a lot of work. Despite the scoreline, senior captain Ava Walkeryee felt proud of her team’s effort despite their loss.
“ I think our energy and our attitude were really [persistent]. We came back, especially [after] being down in the second half. I think the fact that we kept going and kept moving is a defining part of this team,” Walkeryee said.
Junior Caitlin Titcombe shared this sense of optimism about the game and about the future of the team this season.
“We were connecting well as a team. We all had high intensity and we just really wanted to make each goal. Unfortunately, that didn’t quite happen. I think we left all that we had on the field.I’m really proud of us as a team,” Titcombe said.
Although they tried their best, the teammates agreed there was room for improvement and that the Giants could take what they had learned from this loss to better themselves as players and teammates.
“Finishing our chances would be a huge help. I am working on connecting our passes because sometimes that gets lost, especially through the midfield. If we can improve that, we can be unstoppable,” Titcombe said.
Walkeryee reiterated the importance of connecting passes and maintaining possession of the ball, especially when going up against teams like Marin Academy.
“Finishing is going to be the biggest thing for us. I think we did get a lot of chances, but it’s that last piece that we got to nail down… [The Wildcats] are really scrappy and work hard. During the 50/50 balls, [The Wildcats] worked just as hard as we did to get them out as we tried to get them in,” Walkeryee said. “We can do better in the future.”
