Despite their efforts, the girl’s soccer team fell to the Cor Jesu Chargers in the first round of Districts 3-0.

Soccer coach Eric Hill said he thinks the girls gave their best efforts in such a difficult game and connected with each other very well.

“Of course we wished to have won. I think all in all the girls gave their best but the game got away from us at the end. We still have a very young team and that many girls getting to know each other takes time. They bonded like I haven’t seen in years and they elevated the culture in the program. Not to mention they played well in arguably one of the harder schedules in the State,” Hill said.

Senior Tori Bridges said she was anticipating a tough game against Cor Jesu, and the girls worked as hard as they could to hold their ground

“I think overall the game was a hard-fought match. We held Cor Jesu off for a while but eventually, they found the net. Going into the game I knew it would be a difficult one, I was disappointed to lose but overall we improved so much as a team. We have so much room to grow with our team being so young,” Bridges said.

Junior Katie Jundt said the girls tried to stay concentrated on improving their own team to try not put too much pressure on themselves.

“Despite the outcome, I think the game went well. The team put a lot of hard work and effort into it, so that’s really all you can ask for. I didn’t want to focus too much on the other team, instead we focused on our own gameplay and tried to not psyche ourselves out by thinking about the end result. I think for next season we can just keep focusing on technical abilities and staying on the same page as a team,” Jundt said.

Freshman Maria Domian said the girls stayed motivated but they weren’t as well connected as they’d hoped.

“Cor Jesu is a tough team with some really good players. I knew it was going to be a good game. While the outcome wasn’t what we wanted, we fought hard the whole time. The effort was always there, but the execution wasn’t. We had the right ideas but not all of them got connected,” Domian said.

Hill said he is very proud of the seniors because they encouraged a productive and hardworking environment and he hopes that carries into the program for future years.

“[Our goal is] to keep building off what [seniors] Grace Hylla, Elise McCarthy and Tori Bridges did for this program. They showed what it means to work hard, not over complicate anything and hold yourself and others accountable. They did all of that while promoting a very positive atmosphere. I cannot thank them enough,” Hill said.