With the Oakdale High School Girls Soccer Varsity team ending as both Conference and Region Champions last season, players this year have lots in store for them. As the girls have played their hearts out, their season is coming to an end, but the biggest games of the year are coming faster than they know it.

The team has had a very successful season so far, having a total of 13 wins with one tie and loss. According to Head Coach Ann Schwarzenberg, this has been the team’s first loss in the regular season in two years. Schwarzenberg shared that she felt really good about the score, as it “was definitely a really good learning experience because losing is part of soccer, so learning how to do it well and come back from it is really important.”

When asked about their feelings towards the season, Team Captains Mya Alcala, a senior, and Caroline Atwill, a junior, said they felt good about it so far. As captains, both players had to “step into the role of being the best communicators on the team.”

Communication is something that the whole team has had to work on, which according to Alcala, has been the team’s biggest setback. The players have gotten better at communicating and being more vocal throughout the season. Additionally, the team has experienced changes this year, as a lot of current players are new to the program and the region has changed as well.

After the regular season, the team will compete to get out of their region, and if they are successful, they will compete against other regional champions in the state championship. Both the team captains and the head coach feel very excited about what is coming up. Coach Schwarzenberg believes, “There’s a really good chance we have to get out of our region if we get another run at states, anything can happen. The girls are hungry they’re ready to go, and I think they have what it takes.”

Captain Atwill is confident that the team will make it out of the region, and she thinks that the team has the potential to make the state championship. Specifically, she hopes that the team can overcome Mount Hebron High School. Both captains were also looking forward to their game with Our Lady Of Good Counsel High School, winning 2-1.

In their last game of the regular season, the girls won their senior night game 5-0 against Middletown High School. In the first half, they finished with three points; two of them were goals and one was a Penalty Kick. Junior Ryleigh Alcala made the first goal of the game with 35 minutes remaining in the first half, and Captain Alcala made the second goal with 14 minutes still remaining. The third point was the Penalty Kick, also made by Captain Alcala with 11 minutes remaining.

In the second half of the game, there were two goals. The first one was made by Senior Kiley O’Grady with 23 minutes remaining in the second half, and the second goal was made by Freshman Fiona Collins with 15 minutes remaining.

The players also won the CMC Championship against Tuscarora High School with a score of 1-0.

Undoubtedly, this season has been a successful learning experience for the Bears. Not only are regionals coming up, but states are a possibility. As Coach Schwarzenberg said, “The biggest accomplishment for this season is yet to come.”

Update: 

After their last win of the regular season, the team went on to compete to win the regional and later states championship. They beat Westminster High School 3-0 at the Region Semifinals and beat Linganore High School 1-0 at the Region Finals.

They also won their game against Chopticon High School 7-0 in the States Quarterfinal. Unfortunately, the team lost their State Semifinal game against Mount Hebron High School for the third time. The score was 1-0.