For the first time in the 21st century, the Plano girls soccer team won their district and was able to advance into the playoffs.
“I thought the girls were capable of winning state,” Head Coach Heather Morse said. “Seven of our seniors are going on to play college soccer, so it has been a special year.”
After losing their first playoff game against Hebron 2-1, players like seniors Rahel Zerazion and Emma Bonin said they were disappointed. While most of the team hoped to make it all the way, Morse said that she is still happy with how far they were able to come this season.
“The girls have been hungry this entire season, and all the hard work they put into the pre-season paid off,” Morse said.
In spite of the lose in playoffs, the team is relatively content with how they played and looking forward to what they can do better next year.
“During our playoff game, I wish we had came out and played how we usually do but personally I’m happy with this year,” Zerazion said.
Since the team made playoffs last year, Morse said she wanted to try new things in training and practice in preparations for this past season.
“I think the off-season is what changed our game-play this year,” Morse said. “All the consistent training, the teaching of the system and the extra work in the weight room has paid off.”
In addition to the technique of the team, the close relationship between the girls allows them to easily play off of one another during an intense game.
“Our chemistry is our biggest strength because we do not have a star player,” Bonin said. “We are all good, we all mesh well and we all play really well together so it works really well when we are playing.”
These relationships have remained off the field as well.
“A lot of us usually go to Firehouse Subs on game days together,” Bonin said. “We all do fitness and and workouts so that we are fit for the game. Then we just talk together and figure out what we need to do.”
While the team did better than it has in over 20 years, Morse said that there are still things that could be improved upon during games for next year.
“We need to work on our transition play, and we also need to work on defensive set pieces,” Morse said.
Despite losing much of the team to college next year, Morse believes that the team will continue to strive for playoffs next year just as much as they did this past season.
“They are a group of girls that get along really well and play for each other,” Morse said. “We are losing a lot of girls, but we will be fine.”