Dec. 12, 2024
By Alexandra Ruiz
Staff Writer
Despite facing significant obstacles, the girls soccer team finished its regular season with a 13-6-1 winning record and made it to the quarterfinal round of states.
Head Coach Hykey, who has been coaching the team for 15 years, said she is proud of the players’ achievements.
“While there were definitely challenges thrown at us, the girls handled it well, and we accomplished a lot,” Hykey said. “We might not have accomplished everything we wanted to… but given the circumstances, they really responded and dealt with the other stuff well, so I am very proud of that.”
Hykey said the two main hurdles the team encountered this season were low membership compared to previous years and injuries, which led some players to take on new positions.
“I’ve never had a season where we had so many injuries at the same time, and with low numbers, trying to field [junior varsity and varsity] teams to play on the same day [was challenging],” Hykey said.
Like Hykey, senior midfielder Julia Marnik, who is in her fourth year on varsity, said considering the number of injuries the players incurred, the team did well.
The team won its first state game at home against Harrison High School on Nov. 4 with a score of 6-0.
“It was one of the best games we’ve played because we stayed calm and composed,” Marnik said.
She said aspects of the game that stood out to her were scoring early, which the team had never done against Harrison, and scoring so often.
“While there were definitely challenges thrown at us, the girls handled it well, and we accomplished a lot.”
In the next game, the quarterfinal round of states, the team lost in penalty kicks at an away game against Somerville High School on Nov. 7.
Senior captain and center midfielder Skyler Montillo, who has been on varsity for four years, said the quarterfinal was tough because the opposing team’s defense and goalie were strong.
“Not being able to get the ball in the back of the net has been an issue for this whole season, so I think that is a huge factor in what led to our loss,” Montillo said.
Montillo said even though she did not want her high school soccer career to end so soon, it was an amazing season.
“I wouldn’t have changed anything about this season’s outcome, and I couldn’t have asked for a better last season,” said Montillo.
