The Falcons defeated St. Francis Borgia 3-0, shutting them out in the first round of Districts on May 16. This was the first of the six games in the Class 3 State tournament.

The first half began slowly as the score remained stagnant for both teams. Junior Elise McCarthy said this was due to the girls lack of energy from the start.

“[In the] first half I just think there wasn’t enough intensity brought to the field,” McCarthy said.

Senior Addie Wilhlem said she had her doubts for the first when the team wasn’t playing to their fullest potential.

“I was nervous for the first half because we weren’t playing to the level we all knew we could play,” Wilhelm said.

Fortunately at half, the Falcons turned the game around, and Wilhelm said scoring three unanswered goals changed the team’s momentum.

“Once the second half rolled around, we were able to up our play and score three goals in ten minutes, which changed everyone’s play,” Wilhelm said.

McCarthy said this was not only because they raised their intensity, but as the girls got tired they realized they needed to work together to get a positive outcome.

“I think [in the] second half we came out a lot stronger than the first. We all were working as a team. As we began to get tired we realized that we needed to play better as a team, which finally led to the three goals,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy said the first goal brought the team momentum.

“We definitely turned it around in the [final third] of the game, especially when [freshman] Lillie Fyle got that spark going whenever she scored the first goal,” McCarthy said.

Fyle was the first to put a ball in the Knights’ net, and she said the assist from senior Rylie Morris allowed her to score.

“[Rylie] Jo dribbled up the field and did an amazing cross right to me,” said Fyle.

Moments later, Wilhelm passed the ball into the goal box where McCarthy took it as a scoring opportunity by crashing the goal, tapping the ball in the net. She said it took challenging the goalkeeper to score.

“I don’t really remember that much but I know Addie [Wilhelm] took a girl on on the right wing and then crossed it over and I kinda just contested with the goalie,” said McCarthy.

Going into the final minutes, Wilhelm said the second goal was only possible because of the girls’ chemistry, which was demonstrated between her pass to McCarthy.

“We did a good job communicating and making connections and longer strings of passes,” Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm said getting the third and final goal toward the end of the game was satisfying, as she was excited to help ensure the victory.

“[Junior] Morgan [Crew] passed it to me and then I dribbled to the middle, took a touch around the goalie, and passed it into the net. I was really excited when I scored and happy to help secure the win,” Wilhelm said.

With two games left in District play, the Falcons will take on Ursuline Academy on May 18. Wilhelm said the girls will focus on each game as it comes.

“I think if we play hard, the way we know we can, we can definitely win our district. After that, it’s just another game that we need to win. We will take it one game at a time,” Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm said the momentum from defeating the Knights may secure the results they want.

“If we put our best effort in and play the way we have been lately we should see a pretty positive outcome,” Wilhelm said.