-
Swinging her leg, Mia Wiele ’26 takes a corner kick. Throughout the game, Wiele also took a penalty kick for the Warriors that almost made it into the goal, but just passed above the crossbar.
-
Looking down, Carla Canfran ’25 observes the ball and prepares to shoot it up the field. With her first goal for the Warriors, Canfran evened out the score 1-1 and set the tone for the game.
-
Kaleia Coughlin ’26 attempts to break free from the Vandegrift player to get to the ball. There was a lot of physicality in the game and the referee called multiple fouls as well as a yellow card for a Vandegrift player.
-
Focusing, Payton Vopat ’26 attempts to gain control of the ball and cross it into the box. Vopat secured the last winning goal of the game for the Warriors with her header, bringing the final score to 2-1.
-
Natalie Safarik ’26 dribbles down the field with her eye on the ball. Throughout the game, there were certain areas of open space in the midfield and so the Warriors dribbled until they were pressured again by Vandegrift.
-
Racing down the field, Tayla Score ’25 fights to gain control of ball before the Vandegrift player. After she got the ball, Score shielded it until she was able to pass it up the field.
-
Looking down the field, Henley Patak ’27 attempts to spot an open player to pass to. The Warriors often worked the ball down the lines and kicked it back to their defense or the goalie if there was too much pressure.
In the last home game of the regular season, the varsity women’s soccer team beat the Vandegrift Vipers 2-1 on Tuesday, March 11. This win continued their season-long victory streak and brought home their 15th win of the season.
Just within five minutes of kickoff, the Vipers found a break in the field and were able to score on the Warriors. Although this was an early setback, the goal solely motivated the Warriors to not let another goal in and to get themselves on the board. As soon as the opposite team got control of the ball, the Warriors’ entire team moved up the field to collectively pressure the Vipers and ensure that no other goals got past the defensive line. Not only their strategy in response to the goal, but also their reaction was a turning point for the rest of the game.
“At the beginning when we got scored on, I think we had a great response,” Lanier Harvey ‘25 said. “Instead of putting our heads down, we came back and scored two goals, and I think that effort is gonna prepare us for playoffs.”
With a few minutes left in the first half, Mia Wiele ‘26 shot a corner kick which rebounded to the Warriors, allowing Carla Canfran to pop in a short range goal soon after. This shot tied the game 1-1 only a handful of moments after the initial whistle.
“We practice our corners a lot, so just getting rebounds off of corners worked really well during the game,” Harvey said. “We also won a lot more 50/50s, which is something we’ve really been trying to do.”
Payton Vopat ‘26 saw an opportunity when the ball was hit into the box but blocked by the goalie, following up on her teamate’s shot she headed it into the goal, cementing the 2-1 lead for the Warriors. The Vipers repeatedly attempted to advance across the field to shoot a goal in the intense game, but couldn’t push much farther than midfield to get through the defensive line.
“I think it was a really good game,” Nadia Giannetti ‘26 said. “We came up from being down one and then obviously we got the win tonight. I’m super proud of the team and it just shows that our determination is really strong and the connection we have on this team is gonna make us do really well in playoffs.”
By defeating the Vista Ridge Rangers that Friday, March 14 in a score of 4-2, the Warriors earned a spot to compete in the first round of 6A playoffs which will take place on Friday, March 21 at the Warrior Bowl at 7:30 p.m. for their next game.
