Varsity girls’ soccer midseason recap

The glare of the light, the howl of the wind, the crowd's cheer, the whistle's sound. No matter how far forward the offense moves, Blair is always ready to defend their goal. The varsity girls’ soccer team is working hard this season gearing up for the playoffs. Although the year has been a little rocky, the team has built both strong players and a strong team connection.

For a lot of the girls, soccer has been a big part of their lives for a long time and is where players have made some of their strongest connections. Senior Lauren Mayn, a captain on the team, explains how the varsity team differs from previous years, and how they’ve grown. “We've really learned how to work with each other. We've created relationships, even between seniors and freshmen, and so we're able to just communicate more and be more effective as a unit on the field,” Mayn said.

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Photo: Senior Helen Zekarias on the field

Senior Helen Zekarias on the field Photo courtesy of Beck Rowe.

Although they have made much progress, some people are not as confident and are still trying to find their footing after a large part of the team graduated last year in 2024. Junior Eva Damman describes how she feels about the teams’ commitment this year. “We don't have as many people committed, that doesn't mean that the seniors this year are less good at all, but it's just a different team… we're definitely not winning as much, so we're not as confident, but that doesn't mean that we're less good,” Damman said.

Despite the loss, the girls' varsity soccer team has become a united force from their activities off the field to their communication on the field. By working on interactions during practice and improving from game to game, they have continued to evolve as a team throughout the season.

When it comes to how they play, they’ve changed their strategy a bit from last year. Mayn explains their approach this year as playing more towards protecting their goal. “We changed our formation from last season, so we definitely have more of a more defensive strategy,” Mayn said.

Although this approach has helped adjust people to new teammates, both the captains and players feel they should be more offensive and assertive in the future. Senior Ainslie Curran-Ng’asi describes some of the frustrations she’s had in the past few games. “I want to score more goals personally, especially since we haven't been scoring goals these past few games,” Curran-Ng’asi says.

Even though they have been hitting a rough patch these past few games, the players are confident in their ability to succeed.

#15 is here

Photo: Senior Ainslie Curran-Ng'asi on the field

Senior Ainslie Curran-Ng'asi on the field Photo courtesy of Beck Rowe.

Junior Meron Koro, a captain on the team, explains how she’s been feeling regarding their recent losses and what she wants to see in the future. “There's always more room to improve, and we all understand that we're all humans, we all make mistakes and we all have our passion, so we just gotta stick together, because we're a team,” Koro says.

On a more positive note, despite their recent losses, the players have had a lot to look back at and look forward to. Whether it be team bonding activities like pool parties and team dinners, or impressive plays like Koro’s header in the Springbrook game on Sep. 19, there have been many great parts of this season. Furthermore, many people are excited about playoffs and going back to states again.

Koro talks about her hope for the rest of this season and beyond. “This team is a very special, incredible team, and we've made history last year and I think we do have the capacity and the ability to make things through this year. We're going to do it, we're just going to keep our heads in the game,” Koro said.

As their Coach Robert Gibb says, “Every game is gonna be a bulldog, every game is gonna be fighting for our lives and fighting for that win.” 

Don’t forget to support the varsity girls' soccer team by going to games and cheering them on. Make sure to check out the Blair athletics website to check for the schedule and support fall sports.