Proudly continuing the historic trend of shutting out district rivals, the McNeil Mavericks, the varsity girls soccer team began their season with a bang after their 4-0 victory on Tuesday, Jan. 13. Bringing a smashing offense to the field, the Warriors exhibited seamless teamwork, precision, and speed to eliminate any chance of a Maverick comeback. 

“I’m really excited that this season we got to start with a home game,” Natalie Safarik ‘26 said. “We had a lot of good work building up in preseason and [our Coach] Framjee always says that we want to make new mistakes, and I believe that we did that.”

Commencing the game with an explosive drive breaking past Maverick defense, the Warriors immediately encroached into the Maverick half, where they’d largely stayed for the remainder of the game. Rapid, targeted passes from player to player were a constant trend throughout the night, bringing the Warriors numerous opportunities to score a goal. Much of the early first half was dominated by such powerful attempts, with the team efficiently making their way to the goal area. However, the Maverick goalie turned up their high-pressure defense, proving an obstacle for the Warriors. 

Steadily building their momentum, the Warriors pulled an eruptive maneuver to score a well-deserved first goal, with Payton Vopat ‘26 assisting Safarik  in shooting the ball straight into the net. Safarik was an instrumental player in the first half, riding her own wave of sheer power and agility to swiftly score the second goal of the game, with an assist from Jaelynn Solis ‘27. Committed to smashing down all hopes of a Maverick save-face, Jackson Bowen swiftly shot down the field, bulleting the ball into the net from deep mid field, bringing the Warriors to 3-0 to end the first half. 

“Once we got one goal it was just like smooth sailing,” Kaleia Coughlin ‘26 said. “From there, we were able to connect all of our passes and just realize oh, you don’t have to hit the ball with power, you have to place it.” 

The tail of the first half bleeding into the majority of the second was marked by consistently strong Warrior goal attempts, but as the Mavericks brought renewed pressure, the Warriors eased on the precision leading to many balls shot out of bounds. With the Warriors showcasing a persistent interplay of teamwork and independent speed, the Mavericks strengthened their last-straw defense, limiting the Warriors from scoring yet another cascade of goals.

Finally, the Warrior offense soared past incoming McNeil players to secure Ella Smith ‘27 a chance to weave the ball past the goalie and into the net for the fourth and final goal of the game. The last few minutes of play saw the Mavericks shooting up in aggression in a last-minute effort to rack any points on the board: charging at their Warrior counterparts, the Mavericks resorted to harsh, one-on-one contact but failed to garner any momentum at all, earning the Warriors a well-deserved first victory of the season. 

“Starting off with a win like that just shapes the season really well,” Nadia Giannetti ‘26 said. “I think it makes the girls really excited for each game that comes up. It shows that obviously winning’s super rewarding, but the work we put into practice is like double the rewards.”

The varsity girls soccer team will take on the Manor Mustangs in their second home game at 7:30 at the Warrior Bowl on Tuesday, Jan. 20.