by Megan Kinner, sports editor
The only change within the River Hill girls’ soccer team is their uniform. Coming off of a state championship last year, the team is better than ever. Because the team was the only school in the county without seniors last year, River Hill has a major advantage, chemistry. The more a team plays together, the more they trust each other, and the more they trust each other, the better they play.
Expect senior captains Megan Chun, Victoria Tran, Carly Wetzel and junior Bridgette Wang to lead the team. Megan who plays right fullback earned first team all-county in 2015 and 2016, leading the county with 14 assists and 7 goals. Victoria earned first team all-county and all-state honorable mention in 2016 and finished last year with 7 goals and 6 assists. Bridgette earned second team all-county, finishing last year with 8 goals and 7 assists. Carly, midfielder, earned second-team all-county in 2015 and 2016, finishing last year with 2 goals and 1 assist. Juniors Dani Poindexter and Jules Grasso will also be key players in their 2017 season.
People have always anticipated that River Hill girls’ soccer team will be good, however this season those expectations are greater than ever. Megan Chun said “Since we were defending state champions last year, our expectations are the same. The goal we have is to be the state champions at the end of every year.” They are currently ranked the 4th best team in Maryland and holds 2 of the past 3 state titles, making them the team to beat.
Captain Victoria Tran said, “We have the team to do well.”
Coach tells us to check the newspaper, we’re ranked number 4 in the State! The most important thing is to be humble and to take one game at a time. We got where we are because we worked so hard, so that doesn’t mean we can slack off now.”
Most of these players have been playing together for at least 3 years now. For many seniors, this is their 4th year on varsity and they are looking to end their high school careers on top with another State Title. In a Howard County Times interview with Coach Song, he said, “They want to leave on a winning note, so they are taking a little bit of the pressure on themselves to do better.” These players are self-motivated and excited to win another state championship!
The team has already faced some challenges this season as they lost to private school, Good Counsel, in a scrimmage 3-1. Victoria Tran explained that part of their coach’s strategy is to “play hard teams in preseason” because the harder you work in the preseason the better prepared you are for the regular season and playoffs. After the loss, Victoria said that she and her teammates were “scared at first about what coach would say, but he was really proud of us because of the improvements we made between the first and second half.” River Hill girls’ soccer team has the skills, the chemistry, and the determination to bring yet another state championship to our school!
Although they have consistently been one of the top, if not the top school in the county, their journey to return to states will not be easy. Victoria said, “Glenelg is always a good game. Last year we had a few a few close games to Wild Lake, Centennial, Glenelg, and Atholton. Definitely closest game was state semi-finals; we lost to Reservoir.” The Hawks went 7-2-2 last year.