The Cardinal’s girls soccer team kicked off the first game of their regular season with a tremendous 7–0 win against the Lincoln Mustangs on Dec. 20 at Lowell.
Within the first 30 seconds of the first half, junior forward Lea Thauvin scored a goal with an assist from junior midfielder Sabrina Lem, followed with a goal scored by senior defender Ellie James. The girls were playing in a 4–3–3 formation, which consists of four defenders in the back field, three midfielders and three forwards.
With 26 minutes left in the first half, junior defender Fiona Plunkett scored a goal, helping the Cardinals extend their lead to 3–0. Soon after, Thauvin scored again. The Cardinals finished the first half of the game with a 5–0 lead, with freshman midfielder Alice Belshaw-Hood scoring the fifth goal of the game.
The Cards continued to dominate in the second half, using their strong defense to prevent the Mustangs from scoring. Sophomore midfielder Hannah McCord scored a goal with 16 minutes left. To finish off the game, junior midfielder Camila Bodden assisted junior defender Fiona Plunkett, which resulted in Plunkett’s header goal, which was the highlight of the game according to senior co-captain and forward Sierra Kirkpatrick.
In the preseason games, the Cards competed against more challenging and competitive teams outside their league. They won two out of five preseason games, one against the Lick-Wilmerding Tigers, 2–1, and another against the Urban Blues, 2–1. However, they lost to the Sacred Heart Irish, 0–1, the Tamalpais Red Tailed Hawks, 0–1, and the Saint Ignatius Wildcats, 1–2.
This season, one of Lowell’s own academic counselors, Amber Wilson, joined the coaching staff as an assistant coach. In addition to having a new assistant coach, there were many new freshmen and sophomores who joined the team.
According to head coach Gene Vrana, one of the team’s top priorities this season is to integrate everybody, especially the new players. The team also strives to give opportunities for everyone to score and for players to play positions that they are not necessarily used to, but they can still enjoy, according to Kirkpatrick. Another one of the team’s goals this season is to prevent their opponents from scoring a single point on them.
The girls soccer team’s next game will be on Jan. 12 at 3:30 p.m. against the Mission Bears at Lowell.
