Girls Soccer Senior Night

BY: GRACE S.

The 2019 senior night for the girls soccer team was October 10. They played Cristo Rey and won 3-0. This is what seniors Morgan Boyd, Sydney Fling, and Erica Lewis had to say about their season coming to an end.

Left to right: Sydney Fling, Erica Lewis, Morgan Boyd

Erica Lewis:

Do you plan to play soccer in college? “No, I do not.” Why not? “I don’t plan on going to a four year college so there’s not really sport’s teams, I mean there is but there’s not, I mean I could do intramural, but probably not just like with work and school I feel like it would be a lot.”

How do you feel knowing you are playing some of your last high school soccer games? “Sad. You never think it is going to be the last one and then it is.” Why are you feeling sad? “Soccer and basketball. Soccer is not necessarily my favorite sport, but soccer and basketball are very different with practices and the girls and just focus in general. Soccer is more fun and laid back and basketball is more like focused in and you get a lot more done. It’s not as fun. It’s a bigger group of girls, like basketball you only have five girls out on the [court] with you and in soccer you have ten. We had twenty four girls; it’s a lot more relationships and friendships I built this year.”

How has being a senior changed the way you approach practices and games? “I remember when I was a freshman, our seniors were really mean to me because I was good and they wanted to make sure I played good and I started. So I told myself, ‘when you’re a senior, you’re not going to be mean to all the freshmen and the girls who hadn’t played yet,’... I hated my freshman year of soccer, it was terrible. I was like, ‘I’m going to be the nice senior.’”

Are there any words of advice you want to give the girls who will play next year? “Enjoy it. Pretend every game is your last so that you play harder. You don’t want to look back on games and be like, ‘I wish I played harder,’. Keep a calm and cool and collected state of mind when you are playing because it can really change the outcome you think you are going to have and effect your whole game and career.”

Is there anything you wish you had done differently? “I wish I wouldn’t have brake checked the girl in the Liberty Union first tournament game...I wish I could play another game.”

Morgan Boyd:

Do you plan to play soccer in college? “No. I want to focus more on my education. I feel like that’s really important to me.”

How do you feel knowing you are playing some of your last games? “Sad.” Do you feel like you are playing harder? “Yeah. I really do. And now it’s tournament time where it really matters. It’s like you’re one and done. You just need to play harder than what you’ve been. There’s no tying. It’s down to the wire.” Is your mindset different during tournaments? “It’s focused in. I don’t worry about anything but the game.”

How has being a senior changed the way you approach practices and games? “Trying to get the underclassmen to be more focused into the game and play for us seniors. As a freshmen, that’s what I wanted to do for my seniors and I wanted to take them further, say states. That’s where I want them to focus and play as hard as they can for us because that’s what us seniors want.” Are you telling the underclassmen to work harder during practice? “Yeah. Make sure you are working hard on the drills that we are doing, so you aren’t slacking because how you practice is how you perform.”

Are there any words of advice you want to give the girls who will play next year? “Play your heart out. Have fun. It will go by so fast, before you even know it. Then it’s over and you’re done.” Do you feel like soccer is a fun sport? “I love it. It’s so much fun. We are a family. There’s no drama or bickering or anything. We are just one big family. I love it.”

Is there anything you wished you had done differently? “No. Honestly, not really.”

Sydney Fling:

Do you plan to play soccer in college? “No, I do not. Not like for a college team, but maybe recreationally just for fun because I enjoy it.” Do you think soccer is a fun sport? “Yeah, I love soccer. I’ve only played for two years, so I’m not the best or I don’t know all the rules, but it’s definitely a lot of fun.” Do your teammates make it fun? “It has a lot to do with my teammates, yeah. But also soccer-you wouldn’t think it’s as aggressive as it is and I’m a very competitive and aggressive person, so I like that about it.”

How do you feel knowing you are playing some of your last high school games? “Honestly, it doesn’t really affect me that much. Soccer wasn’t really my sport in school, so I’ve just done it the last two years, so I’m excited for it to be the last couple of games, honestly.” Why are you excited? “Because we are in tournament games, it’s more competitive.”

How has you being a senior changed the way you approach practices and games? “I don’t think it’s changed it at all. I still practice and still feel the same way about the game as I did last year when I was a junior.”

Are there any words of advice you want to give the girls who will play next year? “Just have fun with it. It doesn’t really matter that much. It’s a high school sport, so just do you and have fun.”

Is there anything you wish you had done differently? “Maybe worked on my ball skills a little bit more.”