Raising The Bar

It is not uncommon to have excitement surrounding soccer at CVCA, but usually the excitement is reserved for the renowned men’s program. This year the Lady Royals began to emerge from their counterpart’s shadow and create a buzz of their own. The women’s soccer program continued to take steps in the right direction this year posting back to back winning records for only the second time in team history, as they finished the year 11-5-3. Their record and play during the regular season, earned the respect of other teams, as they were awarded the #2 seed in their district for the first time ever. Highlights included: scoring 57 goals while only giving up 16; 11 shutouts; 8 goals coming off of corner kicks; 12 different players scoring goals; and 4 players scoring 10 goals or more. All of this happened during a year of transition, with a new coach, new underclassmen starters, and some players in new positions. Without any super stars, the girls played as a team, with each player knowing their role and contributing in different ways. One could draw comparisons to the Body of Christ in I Corinthians 12:12-26. In the playoffs, the Lady Royals easily won the first two games and reached the district semifinal for the second year in a row. The previous year the girls were just happy to be there, but this year they knew that they had earned it and belonged there. In a game that they completely dominated, they could not push the ball across the goal line, losing 2-0 to St. Thomas. This loss will help strengthen their resolve to make the most of their opportunities as they will have a more difficult schedule in 2008. The future is bright for this young team as they will be losing only two seniors (Faith Truthan and Aubrie Millington) and will be adding a JV team next year.