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After losing many seniors, including All-American forward Caroline Miller, who holds WJ records for most goals in a season and most goals in a high school career, the varsity girls soccer team had big shoes to fill.
Starting off with a 2-4-1 record had WJ seemingly bound for a rocky season. The team was losing close game after close game, seeming out of sync. Although they routed Northwest 9-2 in their third game of the season, it wasn't enough momentum to carry into their next game against B-CC, a game they lost 2-1.
The Wildcats eventually got their act together and decided to stop serving their opponents wins, but instead, feed themselves.
"Some of the girls finally stepped up and kind of said 'Alright, give me the ball and I’ll put it in the back of the net. The passion to play the game started to come out which I think helped us get out of the slump we were in," said first year coach Liz Friedman.
After three consecutive wins, including a big overtime victory at Richard Montgomery on Oct. 5, the girls went on to conclude the regular season by winning six of their final seven games. Among the seven games was a 7-2 rout at Magruder on Oct. 20 followed by a 3-2 win at Damascus on Oct. 21 to close out the year.
"Overall we had a good year, but I think we could have done better during the regular season," said sophomore midfielder Emma Van Wagoner.
Once the playoff brackets had been set in stone 10 days later, WJ was seeded eleventh and was lined up to face Richard Montgomery again, on the Rocket's turf, again. The Rockets sought obvious revenge after the previous tough overtime loss to WJ. The Wildcats were riding on a powerful win streak at the time, and that momentum carried over as they dismantled the Rockets 4-0 and advanced to the second round of regional playoffs where they were matched up against the Blair Blazers.
Seeded third in the region and an obvious threat to end WJ's unexpected and remarkable run, the Blazers were coming into the game on a 10-game win streak --the clear favorite. That night, the Wildcats fell to the Blazers 2-0, ending a memorable season.
The team struggled throughout the year, but overall the season has been more of a learning experience.
"I think now that the girls and I have a year under our belt next year should be better in regards to the winning side of things, because now we know what we have to work on, and what we have to do to get things done," said Friedman.
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