Weber High Girls Soccer had an impressive start to the season with a spot in the top 10 through preseason. Their region games also showed huge improvement with a 4-6 record. The girls secured the seventh seed for the state playoffs. From start to finish, it was one of the best seasons girls’ soccer has had in years.
The girls’ soccer team has had an increase of 36 percent win rate, which shows amazing progress compared to last year. They started off the season strong, beating Riverton 1-0 in a preseason game. Although they followed this win with a loss against Green Canyon, they did not let that loss bring them down. They learned from their mistakes and continued their season with a three-game winning streak against Ogden, Mountain Crest, and Granger. Both Mountain Crest and Ogden featured extreme grit when two of these games came down to a shootout, while Granger showed how well the Warriors could really work together, finishing the game 10-0. Overall, they had a record of 8-8 in extremely competitive Region 1, with many well-fought games and a few tough losses. They also ended 10th overall in 6a. These girls earned their wins and fought to the end no matter what.
Senior Maddie Orme is a midfielder for Weber High and accumulated one goal and one assist this year. She said, “I think our team has been thriving physically, we are very physically tough and work really hard in practices and games. We have a really strong offense, and we work hard on top to not lose the ball. Callie and Ellie are good leaders at the top because they are very tactical.” When asked about where the team can improve, Orme said, “I would change our formation and change
the way we play because we play very direct, and I feel like we would benefit more if we played more possessional passing.”
When soccer is played with possession it calms the game down and helps the team find the best possible passes and options. The team changing their style of play led to more opportunities and better attacks that benefited them later in the season. Orme also said, “This season is not what I expected, everyone has been super positive, and we have a lot of great players, and we are doing a lot better than I thought we would.” Having a good atmosphere is critical to a cohesive and competitive team, and Orme is a great example of a team player who helps motivate the team both on and off the field.
One of the most important parts of the team is defense. Kallie Wallace who is a sophomore goalkeeper at Weber High said, “Our defense is really strong and stops a lot of potential shots from coming in.” Wallace is the starting goalkeeper for the team. With 84 saves and two shutouts this season, Wallace ended with the highest saves in 6a region 1 which is an incredible achievement. When asked why the team has been doing a lot better this season Wallace answered with, “We have a really strong defense, and they are very good at keeping the team away from our half.” Wallace also said, “The season has gone better than we expected because coming in from last year we started doing a lot better.” When asked what she has worked to get better at this year she said, “I learned how to better understand what my teammates are doing and how to support the way they play.”
Girls’ Soccer took 4th overall in region this year and had improvements both culturally and on the field. Several girls have also committed to play in college, including Senior Hannah Kallias to Weber State, Junior Kaitlin Dean to Weber State, and Senior Ainsli Heap to the Air Force Academy. Weber has a young team this year with 24 out of 35 girls being freshmen and sophomores, which should lead to an even better team next year as they continue to keep a competitive, cohesive energy and mindset.