The HHS girls soccer team picked up back-to-back wins of the season in their first two games,  showing strong form and building momentum for the season ahead. 

On Thursday, March 27th, the HHS girls soccer team played their first game of the season against Mckinley and took the win home,  with the final score being 3-2. This would set the girls up for a feel of the season and give them a want to improve. 

Sophomore Defender, Celeste Santonge was able to score one of the goals in the first game, with the other two goals being scored by Tiya Robinson (10) and Eldijana Klokic (12)

“It felt very nice to score a goal,” Santonge said, “I didn’t even think Bobby would let me take the penalty kick but when he said yes I got nervous but I took my time and made it.”

About a week or two before the first official game of the season, the team went over to Bayless High School and played in a jamboree against three other teams to prepare for the season and let the players get a feel for the game. 

“The jamboree definitely gave us a feel for what a real game would be like, especially players who are just starting out this year like me,” Sophomore striker Emma Case said. 

“I wasn’t sure how I’d react once I was going against other teams, and so even though I didn’t do great in the jamboree, I feel like it still helped me gain a little confidence,” Case added. 

Aside from the stats of the game, the players really enjoyed and got a feel of the season in their first game and are ready to start the season strong. 

“It was fun, I wanted to win from the beginning but I wasn’t sure if we would, so seeing everyone giving it their all was really exciting,” Case said. 

Santonge also had really good feelings about the first game and how she thinks the rest of the season would do. 

“I felt excited, it was a great start to the season especially after the jamboree when we lost all three games we played,” Santonge said. “It didn’t make me super confident, but after the first win, and seeing how our team progresses in practice, and after our win against valley park I have great confidence with how this season will go.”

The players definitely feel a difference on the field this year, being more independent and learning how to adapt on their own. 

“I do feel a difference, last year we didn’t have much confidence with shooting, and former senior, Brooklyn, would definitely carry the team but this year we have more confidence to shoot,” Santonge said. 

Then the following day, on March 28th, they played Valley Park and fought even harder in overtime to get the 1-0 win, with Robinson scoring the goal. 

“It’s a good start for sure but we are more excited about the progress the girls have made so far, win or lose,” Coach Bob Brotherton said, “Daily improvement is our main goal.”

Coach Brotherton believes that this group of players are capable of learning and improving everyday to become better throughout the season. 

“We’re excited about this group, they all have great attitudes and are willing to learn.”

“This year’s group combines strong work ethic, interest in learning the game of soccer, and athleticism at every position,” He added.

Other than being more independent and adapting to new things as a team, they have been working hard to improve on other things too.

“We’ve been working on improving how we space out on the field, and not getting too clumped together,” Case said. “We also work a lot on communication, and making sure we’re open to our teammates.”

At first, Brotherton and his assistant coaches didn’t know how the game would go, they were hoping for the best and for the team to implement what they learned in practice and do it in a real game. 

“We weren’t sure how it was going to go but I wouldn’t say we were surprised,” Brotherton said. 

Brotherton thinks and believes that this group of players has the ability to achieve what they aim for and they knew it was a fresh start.

“We really don’t like to compare year by year,” Brotherton said.  “As there are a bunch of new players mixed with returning players who are all a year stronger and more mature.”

The season opener set the stage for an exciting journey ahead, with everyone getting a feel and experiencing the beautiful game. Reflecting on the game and feelings towards the rest of the season, Case said, “Everybody played super aggressively and it was overall just a fun game, I really look forward to the rest of our games this season.”