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Glancing up the field, Paula Marza ’24 tries to find an open teammate. The Lady Warriors repeatedly passed the ball back to the defenders, often to Marza in order to create space and chink away at the Raider’s offense.
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Lunging towards the ball, Audrey Savoie ’26 wards off the Raiders player from maneuvering past the Lady Warriors’ defense. Throughout the game, there were multiple one on one battles which contributed to the overall win for Westwood.
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Leaning towards the ball, Carla Canfran ’25 attempts to steal the ball. There were many instances of physicality between the teams.
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Focusing on controlling the ball, Tayla Score ’25 tries to bring the ball to her feet. After she gained better control of the ball, she dribbled past a Raider defender and shot the first goal at minute 38.
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Intently focusing, Bailey Shuford ’25 prepares to trap the soccer ball and turn with it. After she gained ball control Shuford dribbled towards the goal and passed the ball to a teammate.
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Lifting her leg and turning her body outwards, Kate Cooper ’24 eyes the ball in anticipation. As a midfielder, Cooper was constantly running along the sidelines and contributed to the Lady Warriors’ win by creating lots of space on the field.
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Aggressively trying to get past the Raiders, Molly Harvey ’24 attempts to steal the ball. Once she overpowered the Raiders player, Harvey gained possession of the ball and passed it down the field.
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Rushing to kick the ball first, Kaleia Coughlin ’26 gets in front of the Raiders player and boots the ball up the field. As a defender, Coughlin worked hard to let no balls into the net and cleared the ball whenever it got too close to the goal.
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The varsity girls’ soccer team played an intense game against Cedar Ridge on Tuesday, Feb. 20, which resulted in a 3-0 win for the Lady Warriors. In addition to game night, it was also sponsor night, so all sponsors received free admission to the game. During halftime, the announcer advertised the companies and financial supporters of the girl’s soccer program.
As soon as the referee blew the whistle, signifying the start of the game, the Lady Warriors pressured the Raiders quickly and clustered tightly together high on the field to play strong offense. This tactic seemed to work as it tired out the Raiders and within the first 12 minutes, Tayla Score ‘25 dribbled around the defenders and kicked the ball at the goal. At first, it seemed that the goalie held the ball but at the last second, it slipped through her gloves and into the net, cementing an early lead for the Lady Warriors.
Three minutes later, a shot was crossed into the box and hit the crossbar but Kaleia Coughlin ‘26 got control of the ball and scored another goal on the rebound. This second quick goal empowered the Lady Warriors to increase their playing intensity and they continued to quickly pass the ball around the Raiders to create space for their next offensive move.
After halftime, at minute 52, a Raider defender fouled the Lady Warriors in the penalty box and granted them a chance to take a penalty kick. Kate Wyrick ‘25 took this shot successfully putting the ball in the back of the net, and totaling the score 3-0 for Westwood.
As the game progressed, the Warriors mostly focused on defense so that they could keep the score in their favor. Although they retreated from their strong offensive tactic, they still obtained even more shot opportunities to bolster their lead. Such an opportunity was shown at minute 62, when Bella Keene ‘25 grabbed an assist, passing it to Score, who smashed it in the net for a goal later deemed offsides. After the third goal for the Lady Warriors, there were a few threatening advances from the Raiders but the defenders blocked any of their chances at equalizing the game.
“We’ve been focusing on trying to make new mistakes and grow and develop in time for playoffs,” Natalie Safarik ‘26 said. “I think we did a really good job of moving up the lines, using a lot of movement, and taking a lot more shots.”
Last year, the Lady Warriors were fourth in the state UIL playoffs and it was the first time the team had advanced to the state playoffs in 24 years. This year, the team is looking to bring home the championship title again and work continuously during training and games to improve.
“[Every game] we always try to work on physicality,” Safarik said, “as we get further into playoff season, we will need to be more physical as more teams will be really aggressive because they are fighting for their spot. We are in a really good spot right now and a lot of our goals were accomplished [this game].”
The Lady Warriors will play next on Friday, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. against McNeil at their stadium in an away game.
