The MSHS girls soccer team had their first game of the season on Tuesday, March 11, at The Classical Academy at 6:30pm; and many of the girls are determined to achieve their goals as this season kicks off.
Nora Bowie, a sophomore who has played soccer for three years, feels that as a team the soccer girls have goals of making it some ways into the playoffs. “Some of my personal goals are to get some varsity playing time, and hopefully as a team we could do well in playoffs,” Bowie said. “We made it to the second round of playoffs last year, and I think we have an even stronger team this year; so I think a team goal would be to make it to the third round of playoffs, possibly.”
Bowie feels that of all the sports she participates in, soccer has the best team atmosphere. “Everyone’s friends, there’s no drama, and you just get really close with everyone on the team,” Bowie said. “Comparatively, a lot of girls sports have more drama, or fighting, but soccer doesn’t really have that as much. Everyone really gets along and actually likes each other and they’re genuinely supportive.”
Bowie has been swinging varsity since halfway through her freshman season and feels that the opportunity pushed her to improve outside of her comfort zone. “There was a point about mid-season that they pulled me up to swing varsity, and I could tell that all my coaches really believed in me and wanted me to be successful,” Bowie said. “Coach Fugate really helped me get better on JV, and then Coach Mack helped me by pulling me up to varsity and giving me playing time, even though I wasn’t super comfortable in that environment.”
Bowie feels that as a team they have goals of making it some ways into the playoffs. “Some of my personal goals are to get some varsity playing time, and hopefully as a team we could do well in playoffs,” Bowie said. “We made it to the second round of playoffs last year, and I think we have an even stronger team this year; so I think a team goal would be to make it to the third round of playoffs, possibly.”
Bowie enjoys lifting her teammates up. “I think my favorite part about playing sports is being a teammate, I like to really hype people up,” Bowie said. “If someone makes a mistake, just saying ‘Hey, it’s okay, you got the next one,’ and just not being the teammate that is getting down on you, but the one that’s uplifting you.”
Rylynne Murphy Skillen (11), has been playing soccer for four years, and enjoys the teamwork aspect of soccer. “I really like working with other players and having that teamwork within games because I’m in cross country, and you don’t really get that there,” Murphy Skillen said.
Murphy Skillen feels that she has personally received support from her coaches. “When it was my first year on varsity, I wasn’t getting a lot of play time; so I talked to my coaches, and they gave me ideas on how I could improve and get some more play time on the field,” Murphy Skillen said.
Benjamin Mack, a biology teacher at MSHS has been coaching soccer for 22 years at MSHS. He really enjoys the effort put in and working with a great team. “It’s really special when we can get a group of people, you know, boys or girls together who really have a common goal, and then we just work really hard and lay down a framework,” Mack said.
Mack and the other coaches like to personalize some practices for different players so that they can improve their skills. “And so really it’s evaluation, first,” Mack said. “What do they need? And then really trying to map out and script practices in a way that you’re going to hit on the things that all those players need.”
Mack encourages the team to try their best during important games and practices. “Today we do what others won’t,” Mack said, “so tomorrow we can do what others can’t.”
Mack believes that the Girls Soccer team will go far this year. “I’m Super excited, we have a great group of girls, and a good mix of older and younger players,” Mack said. “They’re working super hard and we all plan to go far this season.”
