Millard West Varsity Girls Soccer has had a total of 11 wins and zero loses this season. They have been working hard all season to maintain their record. On Apr. 19th, the Wildcats went up against the Millard South Patriots in the Battle of Q Street.

In the first half, the game was mostly played on Millard West’s side of the field. The Wildcats were taking many good shots, but the wind would knock their balls too far to the right. There were many headbutts and corner kicks for Millard West this game, and the girls had incredible footwork.

“I think that the team this year has great chemistry, we work very well together,” Naujokaitis said. “I think that sometimes we have trouble communicating with each other on the field.”

The Wildcats were taking their shots at scoring goals, but the Millard South goalie was putting up a tough fight by jumping and blocking balls that were kicked near the goal. Millard West was kicking the ball high enough to make it, but they were all blocked by the goalie. Millard West didn’t give up though as they made sure that Millard South couldn’t get closer to their goal.

Senior and goalie Maddie Smith on Millard South got called out after ten minutes of the game getting played. She happened to be wearing a black jersey which was the color of Millard West’s jerseys.  One of the important rules in soccer is that the goalie has to be wearing a unique and different clothing option that separates them from their team. She was forced to switch jerseys and was put back in.

After that situation, the clock started again, and the girls were back to playing their game. The Wildcats were trying their hardest to keep the Patriots back, but eventually they were able to move toward their goal and shoot. The first goal of the game was shot by Millard South player senior Lauren Thompson which made the score 1-0 for the Patriots.

Wildcats put on their game face and fought harder. Augustine took many risks and kicked the ball high and far. She had the chance to kick many corner kicks throughout this game. The wind picked up the ball and turned it too far to the right. Naujokaitis was showing off more footwork by kicking it around and in between the legs of the Millard South players. Junior Morgan Rhodes always had a Patriot player on her back, but she didn’t let them get to her. She was able to keep the ball in play when Millard South tried to kick it out.

Naujokaitis was injured in this half. She was trying to kick the ball, but a Millard South player had pushed her and she fell. She landed on her knee and the coaches immediately ran to her. She was walked off the field, and she sat out for the rest of the half, but she was put back in the second half after she was rested.

At halftime, the score was 1-0 for the Patriots.

“I think that I could improve on being a better leader on the field,” Naujokaitis said. “I see the whole field being the back line, so I could work on communicating with my teammates.”

In the second half, Millard West started with the ball. Most of this half the whole team had good footwork, but it seemed like they were hesitating some of their shots. There were many shots that they could’ve made, but they did not shoot. Although they were a bit hesitant, Millard West had many good stops and steals from the Patriots.

“I think that our team could work on setting up free kicks and throw ins a little bit quicker,” Rhodes said. “If we do that it could take the other team off guard.”

Raabe definitely shined in this half. She put up a tough fight against the Patriots. Raabe was not only able to get the ball out of the Patriot’s grip, but she also had many high kicks that could’ve gone in if they weren’t blocked. Junior Sierra Schmidt was quick on her feet this half. Whenever there was an over kicked ball she ran fast to keep it in play.

“One mistake we had in the Millard South game was that we really didn’t take care of the chances we had in goal,” Raabe said. “We had a couple of really nice opportunities in both halves which ended up being turnovers. We weren’t being precise enough with the shots we were taking.”

As this half was ending, the team started to take more risks while playing. It was ball after ball be kicked to the goal. Still, none were able to make it in due to the Patriot’s goalie Raabe was shooting a lot more, but they were going too high. There was a play made by Raabe and junior Grace Ostergaard that could have been another potential goal. Raabe kicked it to Ostergaard, but since the ball was in the air Ostergaard tried to headbutt it into the goal. Millard South’s goalie was still able to catch it.

“Personally, I think I could improve on my vision of the field and playing balls into people on the run,” Raabe said. “After the Millard South game, we really tried to just put that game behind us and focus on what is right in front of us.”

Senior Riley James, junior Riley Atkinson, and Naujokaitis played farther back from the rest of the players, but they kept the ball from going onto Millard South’s side. They worked together to keep any over kicked balls from going out of play. Rhodes was also playing really hard and was quick to keep the ball from going out. She also assisted many players in potential goals.

“In the Millard South game we could’ve avoided shooting directly at the keeper,” Rhodes said. “Instead we need to shoot in high or low corners.”

The game ends 1-0 with a win for Millard South.

“The loss against Millard South was definitely and setback for us,” Naujokaitis said. “We were all disappointed and hated the feeling. We didn’t want to feel like that again, so we knew we had to pick up or game.”

This is the Wildcat’s first loss of the season, but they didn’t let it bring them down. They still have won many games this season and although they lost, they came back with a win against Millard North. Their next game is Thursday, Apr. 25 against Papillion-La Vista South High School. Hopefully, the Wildcats can pull out another win for their season.