Coming towards the end of their season, the girls’ soccer team played Gretna on Thursday, April 21. This would be one of the toughest games of the season for the Wildcats since the Dragons are the number one ranked team in the state and are 12-0. Last season the Wildcats lost 0-6 to the Gretna and were looking to redeem themselves.

Going into this game the Wildcats had to be on their toes at all times and ready for the Dragons to make quick and aggressive moves/runs down the field. The game started off with both teams going back and forth down the field several times by getting breakaways, but at the 10-minute mark the Dragons broke away from the Wildcat defense and scored. Progressing throughout the first half, the Wildcats had many shots on goal but were not successful. After a long run with the ball, Gretna stole the ball and ran away down the field to score making the score 2-0 with six minutes left in the first half.

Preparing for this game the Wildcats spent their practices working on communication and working with their defenders on breakaways toward the goal. Working on tracking the runners down the field would give them a greater chance for the Wildcats to notice the route the Dragons would take to the goal. Practice was also spent working on finding the outside midfielders when attacking to throw the Dragons off. Senior defender Elisabeth Franke worked on keeping her defense strong and aggressive for when the Dragons would move down the field.

“I believe that the Gretna game was one of our best games of the season,” Franke said. “The result of the game did not reflect how the game actually went. We controlled most of the game and created many opportunities, but we struggled to capitalize on them. Their goals were breakaways that were rather hard to defend and they took advantage of their speed.”

Headed into the second half the Wildcats needed to add speed and pressure to Gretna’s offense and defense and work to find the back of the net to put them on the board. The Wildcats started off strong in the second half stopping the Dragons from scoring in the first 15 minutes of the half but ended up losing the ball and letting one of the Gretna forwards get out front to score a goal making the game 3-0.

“While we lost 4-0, we were disappointed in the result, but not in our efforts or play,” head coach Jaque Tevis-Butler said. “The score, in many ways, did not reflect the quality of the game. There were huge periods of time we controlled the match and we had our opportunities.”

Continuing to press and push in the second the Wildcats never gave up their momentum. The Dragons scored one more goal on an assist pass from the midfield towards the top of the box bringing the score to 4-0.

“During the game, we kept possession while playing together and never gave up when the game didn’t go our way,” Moore said. “Our biggest downfall was not being able to put the ball in the back of the net. Overall, we played very well but we just needed to finish our chances.” 

Although the Wildcats ended with a 0-4 game they never gave up. It was a high-pressure and intense game. Throughout the game, the Wildcats had lots of ball possession and many shots on goal just as the Dragons did, but in the end, the Dragons finished their opportunities whereas the Wildcats didn’t. The Wildcats have two more regular-season games and then begin the District tournament on Thursday, May 5.