The Revere High School women’s Varsity soccer team started their season with new hopes and aspirations, utilizing experiences gained over the summer to make a difference with talents and abilities.

Throughout the summer, the introduction of multiple activities such as open fields and outside groups provided an opportunity for the girls to support and strengthen their talents and abilities. The team trained at Edinburgh University to receive help and advice for the season, and participated in a tournament held at Kent State University. One outside group, Nervous System Training Sports Performance (NST), came to Revere to help the girls with dexterity. Senior captain and varsity midfielder Madison Lanford expressed her satisfaction with the success of the program.

“[NST] really helped us with our sprinting and running mechanics, as well as things that. . . help[ed] us get faster like building strength [as well as] different kinds of jumps that . . . help[ed] us build power and muscular strength in our legs,” Lanford said.

The women’s soccer team won their conference three times in the past six years. Additionally, the girls won the district title once, as well as district runner-up twice. In order keep the team strong as a competitor, head coach Dave Howson expressed the search for new ways to keep the girls in shape.

“We always work on possession in practice as I believe this is how the game should be played. We are always looking for new ideas for drills, etc so the girls are not repeating the same exercises every session. We also introduced speed and agility sessions over the summer, core strength work over the last [two] years and we attend high school camps in order to improve our individual players and the team in general,” Howson said.

The women’s team recently lost key players such as graduates Audrey Harding and Alexa Langenfeld. Junior captain and Varsity midfielder Julia Effinger noted the setback.

“This year we do not have the winning record that we did last year, but I think we are closer together and we play better because we are not relying on one single player,” Effinger said.

Additional setbacks for the season include the lack of a set goalie for the team. Senior captain and defensive player Makena Ray expressed the positive benefits to the unfilled void.

“It encourages a lot of younger players and junior varsity goalies to at least step it up and bring their game. . . . [the goalies] really help to encourage each other to work hard [and] compete with one another. . . . Our team is very adaptable,” Ray said.

The girls started the season with a loss to competitor Jackson High School, ending with a score of 2-0. Lanford commented on the varsity team’s performance during the game.

“Every year we play Jackson, and Jackson is a very tough competitor. They are always well-trained and they always have really good footwork. . . . We put up a really good fight . . . [and] we had some great moments where were worked together,” Lanford said.

The girls currently hold their season with a record of 4-12-1. Seniors for the 2017 team include Alli Depp, Allison Gonzales, Hannah Kulhawick, Madison Lanford, Abby Ray, Makena Ray, and Kaleigh Soltis.

They faced Marlington on October 26 at Highland High School.