On Thursday, the girls’ soccer team secured their first win of the season during a home game against the Notre Dame Belmont (NDB) Tigers.
After a few tough losses, the Bears came out hungry for a win in the beginning of the game. Senior Georgia Auerbach scored the Bears’ first goal of the season three minutes into the game, giving M-A an early lead. Auerbach said, “We had a really strong start to the game. Our energy felt really good right off the bat.” After the initial goal, the Bears were motivated to secure a win. Only ten minutes later, senior Valerie Latu-Nava scored the second goal of the game. This was quickly followed by a goal from senior Tatum Olesen to take a commanding 3-0 lead for the Bears.
Notre Dame took a few shots which were saved by the M-A goalkeeper, sophomore Elise Koo. However, with around ten minutes left in the half, Notre Dame scored, cutting the M-A lead. Despite the adversity, the Bears fought right back with sophomore Samantha Ruiz scoring an exceptionally long shot with two minutes left in the half.
After halftime, the score was 4-1, and the Bears were determined to keep their lead. Shortly after the second half started, senior Jordan Bradley ripped a shot from far out, and after bouncing off an NDB player’s head, the ball flew into the goal, increasing the Bears lead to 5-1.
The Tigers took a few more shots throughout the game, none of which were on target, and the game ended with another goal from Latu-Nava with three minutes remaining. This was a very high-scoring game for the Bears and they were all very proud of their offensive prowess. Sophomore Alessandra Hartwig said, “We did a really good job connecting the ball, getting it up top, and finishing our shots.”
The Bears were feeling ecstatic after this win, and are excited to continue their season. Bradley said, “We really stepped it up today and came together as a team. We communicated much better than our other games, and that is why we came out on top.”
The team will return to the field at home tomorrow at 6 pm against the Saint Ignatius Wildcats.
