Girls’ Soccer Victorious Against Pagosa Springs at First Home Game

Mady Caywood, Student Life Editor

On Friday, March 15th, the Manitou Springs Girls’ Soccer team played their second game of the season at MSHS’ home field against Pagosa Springs High School. Manitou started their season off with a disheartening loss to one of our biggest rivals Jefferson Academy 7-0. “I was scared if they scored first it would get to our heads, and the score would continue to go up from there,” said Grace Olson (10), who has been a starter since her freshman year.

After a tough loss, the girls were determined to redeem themselves against Pagosa and then again during their next game against Bayfield. “I wanted to see our team work on communication and our back line to work more closely together,” said Taylor Foky (11) who has been playing soccer for the school all three years and has been on Varsity since her sophomore year. During the first half of the chilly Friday game, the girls knew they weren’t playing to the best of their ability. “We had a lack of connection,” Foky said.

The second half of the game, the Manitou girls saw an improvement. The anti-climactic games ended with a whopping 9-0 score, which almost became a mercy rule: when one team scores up to ten more points than the opposing team. “During halftime, we really figured out what was holding us back and came back stronger during the second half,” said Olson.

These types of games are always a good benchmark for how far the team has already come and how much more improvement they want to see. “I want the season to go as far as possible because I want as much time as possible to play and be with the seniors,” said Sophie Mckeown (10), who has been on Varsity since her freshman year. These Lady Mustangs are excited for the challenging season ahead and plan to make it as far along as they can. For a lot of these girls, it’s their last season so they will put in hard work to make their last season one to remember.