Girls Soccer Rolls Through Up and Down Year
The girls conclude their huddle with “Midwood on three!” Photo: Sacha Laine Keenan
By EMELY RIVAS, INÉS BARRAGÁN, and KAROLINA MULARCZYK
After rigorous training, nine tough games, and a late-season win against Fort Hamilton that kept them in the playoff chase for a bit longer, the Girls Varsity Soccer team ended their season with a loss to Murrow on October 24, narrowly missing the playoffs.
The season started strong with a 4-0 win against John Dewey, where a fantastic opening goal by team captain Lindita Selmani ‘23 lifted the spirits of the team. “She literally just stopped and started juggling the ball. That was a good moment,” said Giselle Tolentino, ‘24, center-defender.
However, the rest of the season was tough, with the girls suffering hard losses against John Jay Campus and Brooklyn Technical High School. Despite bonding off the field, they couldn’t quite reach the same level of chemistry on the pitch to score against these strong teams.
“Our team’s overall weakness is communication on the field,” said Tolentino. “Communication off the field is good, but on the field, adrenaline is really running and our main focus is trying to get a goal in or get the ball out of our side, so we don’t really focus on passing [enough].”
Selmani was the season’s breakout star, scoring nine goals and assisting on five others. As good as Selmani was, Ms. Kendra Lane, the head coach, said that the team sometimes tended to rely on her too much.
Though the team ended the season with a 2-4 record, the players showed strong sportsmanship and bonded together as a team, forming a family that helped them juggle athletics with the pressure of school looming over them.
“This is going to sound so cliché but literally, I had to determine what was more important in my life,” said Nohelia Galarza ‘24, left-back. “You have to learn how to balance your social, academic, and athletic life. Even if we weren’t taking any APs, some classes are still very difficult and require so much attention that sometimes we needed to miss practice for them.”
To work on chemistry, players went to team bonding activities like going out to karaoke or completing communication drills. For example, some members would create a circle and have a few defenders in the middle, communicating with each other without the center players receiving the ball. It was “kind of like ‘monkey in the middle’ with the soccer ball,” said Fiolla Zhegrova ‘23, a team captain.
One bright spot was the return to normal after last season’s Covid precautions. “Coming back last year was hard,” said Ms. Lane. “There were still a lot of Covid-19 protocols still in place. I feel like this year was just more normal.”
Another highlight was the team’s sportsmanship. “I think as a whole, as long as they come away knowing sportsmanship, being part of the team, having a good cohesive group, that’s really all I can ask for,” said Ms. Lane.
The girls lived up to her expectations. “Even though we lost to John Jay and Brooklyn Tech, we had good sportsmanship,” said Galarza. “We were still proud of what we put out, and we knew we gave it our all.”
“We tried our best, but there's only so much we can do,” said Zhegrova. “We have very good team spirit. At the end of every game, we always say ‘good game’ to the other school. Obviously, we had our bad games and our good games, but even if we lost, we were collectively happy. We all cheered for the other team.”
“The friendships that I made are definitely a really big highlight,” said Tolentino. “You have a sense of comfort, like you know these are your teammates and you can confide in them. You have a goal you all want to complete together.”
Ms. Lane really enjoyed this year, she said: “There are a lot of personalities here, and [the girls are] very entertaining. Practices are full. I enjoy watching them grow together, getting to know each other, making friends, and learning how to trust each other and be part of a team.”
It all came down to their last game, a home game versus Murrow High School, to determine whether or not they would be moving on to playoffs. While the score ended 2-1 with the win going to Murrow, it was a fairly close match, leading to what many of the girls recalled as an “abrupt” end to the season.
There was hugging and crying in the locker room, along with occasional laughter as players recalled the highlights of the season. The three captains, Selmani, Zhegrova, and Karina Jagdeo, received much praise from their fellow teammates.
“I honestly was sad that we didn’t go to the playoffs because I really wanted to make it a great memory for our seniors,” said Noor Ashfaq, a junior defensive player. “They worked really hard to make us a better team. We still had an amazing season, and I’m proud of us either way.”
A special shout out is also due to the two managers, who traveled with the team to games and were in charge of keeping stats and getting game footage: senior Sacha Lachaine and sophomore Ciara Holland.
Overall, the girls are already itching to redeem themselves and are ready for the 2023-2024 soccer season to roll back around.