Shoregals soccer manifest their dominance

Erin David

The Shoregals have had a strong start to their season there season currently with a record of 8-1. Their only loss against Avon is a tight 0-1 loss that occurred at the very end of the game.

Many notable performances have been shown from many younger players this year including junior Sarah Van Euwen. So far this season Van Euwen has scored a total of five goals. There have also been two shoregals that have been named SWC female soccer player of the week including Junior Rachel Sheehan and Sophomore Ella Grode. Sheehan also led the shoregals as one of the top scorers for the team with 5 goals and Grode currently is the highest scorer with 6 goals so far this season.

¨Looking at our roster this year, we have a lot of returning varsity players, and that experience and knowledge of the game has really helped with our success. A lot of the girls have been playing together for a while, and that definitely helps with knowing how each other plays on the field, how to work together and how to communicate. We also have great leadership this year with four captains creating a cohesive team, but we also have lots of juniors and underclassmen who aren’t afraid to help lead the team. It’s a very collective and collaborative environment, making our team successful on and off the pitch.¨ Said senior captain Lindsay Homolka.

This fall season ALHS has finally opened up their athletic events to fans again and the girls soccer team is definitely feeling the love from their fans. Good fans can change the energy of a game giving a team enough momentum to pull off a victory which the shoregals definitely benefiting from this having one of their best seasons from past years. Homolka comments on the COVID protocols being lifted saying ¨This season, it’s really great to have fans again, and we have even seen bigger student sections than in the past, which really gets the team excited to play and win.¨

With this being said COVID has still affected the teams preparation for the season. It has limited the amount of team work and gym time they get. Even with these struggles the shoregals have prevailed though having an overall success this year.¨As I’m sure most fall athletes know, we spend a lot of time in the summer preparing for the season, with lots of fitness, lifting, and tactical training sessions to help us get a jump start on the season. Also, COVID this year meant there were an unlimited number of Coach contact days, so there really wasn’t a limit on practices.¨ Homolka explained.

Finally Lindsay explained that her goals going forward for the season is to hopefully win SWC’s and develop the younger players to continue having a powerful team for years to come.