Celebrating Valentine’s Day, the  varsity women’s soccer team battled  against the McNeil Mavericks in a fast-paced game at the Warrior Bowl on Friday, Feb. 14. The Warriors pushed hard and fought through the freezing temperatures and rain to come out with a win.

“This game was a good game for us ,” Kaleia Coughlin ‘26 said. “It was an adjustment because we had to play long balls over the top instead of quick passes, so we adjusted throughout the game.” 

 Starting with the ball to kick off the game, the Warriors dribbled the ball with care, holding possession [for] the first few minutes of the first half. After the Mavericks got the ball, Mia Wiele ’26 played body defense to gain back possession where she ran it down for a 1v1 against the goalkeeper to shoot and score the Warrior’s first goal of the night. Throughout the first half, the Mavericks played tight defense and got the ball back — but the ball quickly went back to the Warriors after Lanier Harvey ‘25 played aggressive defense and intercepted a pass. Harvey stole the ball and kicked it down field towards Wiele where she pulled back her leg and forcibly kicked the ball high into the net for her second goal of the night. The ball went back to the Mavericks when Harvey had another big play to steal the ball and get it back in the Warrior’s possession. After a few different attempts at a goal from the Warriors, Payton Vopat ‘26  got  a pass as she ran inside the box to finish swiftly with a high kick for the Warrior’s  third goal of the night. The final score after the first half was 3-1. 

“This game, we really focused on sending early crosses and trying to play the ball earlier through their back line in order to get ahead quickly,” Harvey said. “I think in the second half we really utilized our outside really well in order to get down field.”

The Warriors came out of halftime fired up ready to finish out the game with another win on the season. With the Warriors holding possession and staying aggressive,  the Mavericks began to lose their patience as they fired up on the defensive side to get the ball back. They ran it  down and came face to face with Sam Walker ‘25. McNeil kicked  a strong sniper shot but Walker leapt into the air to save it. The Warriors got the ball back and began looking for a chance to extend their lead even further. Vopat dribbled it into the box, fighting through pressure to draw the foul which gave  McNeil their first yellow card of the night.  This led to a Warrior penalty kick where Bella Keene ‘25 tracked down the ball and managed to shoot and score through traffic. With the score ending at 4-1, the Warriors got the ball back from the Mavericks but held it to give their players a rest. 

“When [Wiele] goes to take free kicks [I try to] move along the line especially because my defender was really really tight on me,” Keene said. “I was making quick movements off [Weile], I ended up getting off her and the ball just fell at the right moment at the right time [so] I flicked it off my toe.” 

The Warriors will play again in a face off between Cedar Ridge at The Raiders home field, Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 7:15 p.m.