After an almost 2 year break, and lots of longing for a regular fall season, Long Reach’s Varsity Girls Soccer Team reclaimed their spot back on the field. 

The shutdown claimed the remaining winter and spring sport seasons of the 2019-2020 school year, as well as the fall and winter sport seasons of 2020. However, the team experienced the chance to play a shortened season in the early months of 2021, from February to March.

Now back from the long break, the Varsity Girls Soccer team has continued to play through the hardships of a pandemic, and has worked hard to get the team back to their usual routines. The team has picked up right where they left off from earlier this year with returning players, and has even gained a few new ones. 

“It felt almost refreshing to be back. Last year was a mess with the online school, and then the crammed season, so it felt really nice to have a fully scheduled season, and to be back with the team,” says Sophomore Carly Vincent.

Remembering tryouts, first time varsity player and sophomore Sarah Leech says, “When they pulled everyone over for varsity, I was just so thrilled and excited for the season.” 

The season started on September 9th, and ended on October 19th. Within this time, the Lightning team had an overall record of 2-10. However, the team believes that the scores do not determine the overall skill and ability they hold.

“I think the losses really just made us want to win even more, and motivated us for that next game,” says Leech, “We kind of thought like ‘oh we have to represent Long Reach in this game,’ and that’s really how we played.” 

The Playoff game was against Wilde Lake on October 27, 2021. The final score of the game was 0-1, with the winning goal on Wilde Lake scored by a penalty kick. Even though the game did result in a loss, the girls were proud with their overall performance. 

Vincent says, “Overall the team did play really well in our playoff game. It’s unfortunate that we lost on a penalty kick in our first playoff game because I really felt as though we deserved to win.” 

Vincent added, “We put so much hard work and effort into the season. Even until that last game though, I think we all played well together as a team.”

Leech agreed, “Playing with the girls that I was with, I was just really glad because we’re such a good bunch and everyone gets along so well.”

The overall season for the Varsity Girls was a strong, clear one. This year was also a first for the team’s coaches too.

Vincent said, “I really owe it to our coaches, Chris and Phil. They both did a great job preparing us for the playoffs and coaching us throughout the season.”

Leech also added, “I always went to practice feeling almost happy to see them [the coaches], because they always found a way to make practices fun but also keep us motivated. They also showed our team different perspectives which I really appreciated.”

The team will now have the off season to themselves to prepare for the 2022-2023 fall season. The students at Long Reach can’t wait to see what the Varsity Girls Soccer team will do next!