The Archie Williams girls varsity soccer had their senior night game against the Redwood Giants on Thursday, Feb 1. After a long and rainy battle, neither team could break the deadlock and the game ended in a 0-0 tie.
The game started out with senior Maddy Mergenthaler taking the kickoff after sitting out the season due to a torn ACL. The Falcons were excited for the game ahead, yet emotional with the approaching senior night ceremony.
After coming off a tough loss against Tam last week, AWHS was looking to turn it around.
“Coming off the loss from Tam made us want to work harder because it’s frustrating. [We] turned that into fuel for this game,” said senior co-captain Lucy Lafave.
The Falcon’s defense held strong at the beginning of the game while the offense gained momentum, with junior Ava DeCuman pressuring the Giants and junior goalkeeper Belen Hitchcock defending the goal.
While no goals were scored throughout the entirety of the game, there was lots of action with possession of the ball constantly switching, as well as many fouls and corner kicks.
Head coach Jimmy Conrad was happy with the outcome of today’s game and knows it will boost morale for the remaining part of the season.
“Today was a nice microcosm of what we’ve been working on the whole season. So to do it against Redwood, who are one of our biggest rivals, is pretty cool,” Conrad said.
Conrad also remarked on the challenges he has implemented and the improvement shown by the team.
“I challenged them just to not hide, don’t hide from responsibility. And even in the hardest moments you can still stand up and be like, I can take care of this. I can do it. And so that’s what I challenged with the team today. And I thought they did that.”
Following the game, the team celebrated senior night. The seniors included Ally Greenwald, Annie Pon, Eliza Austen, Emma Freed, Hilve Foy, Kaia Yudice, Lucy Lafave, Maddy Mergenthaler, Sammy Gerner, Tessa Miller, and Izzy Nelson.
“It was a really great senior night, but I’m sad to leave all my friends when the season is over,” Izzy said.
The 11 graduating seniors received flowers, posters, and gifts. The rest of the team made posters for each senior and gave heartfelt speeches of gratitude to commemorate a memorable season.
While the Falcons didn’t make it into the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) playoffs this year, they qualified for a spot in the North Coast Section (NCS) playoffs, and are grateful for the short break. “It [NCS] is a nice cherry on top for all the hard work and sacrifice that the players have put in, and I’m excited for the opportunity,” Conrad says.
The Falcons have a scrimmage next Tuesday, Feb. 6 against the Terra Linda Trojans at Terra Linda. Following that they will compete in the NCS playoffs on Tuesday, Feb. 13. The location and opponent of this game is yet to be known.
