By Travis Smola
Things are looking up this year for the Vicksburg varsity girls’ soccer team. It’s made big strides of improvement over last season.
This year’s team fielded just three seniors in Hailey Burr, Riley Sibley and Emmaline Miller. Head Coach Mike Moldolvan praised the three girls for their senior leadership all year after a close game against St. Joseph.
The girls ended up dropping that close contest to the Bears 1-0. But in reality, it could have gone either way. Burr and freshmen Chloe Hatridge and Brady Brown all came very close to putting the ball in the back of the net early in the first half.
Freshman goalkeeper Haley Town made several nice saves in the contest. St. Joseph’s only goal came on a scrum in front of the net and an unlucky bounce.
A much improved season comes with some additional excitement because they are fielding 10 freshmen this year. The team started off its season on the right foot with a 1-0 win over Kalamazoo Loy Norrix. It also picked up close wins against Stevensville Lakeshore 1-0 and Conference rival Edwardsburg 3-1. The biggest win of the year was an 8-0 shutout of Dowagiac.
More than that, the girls have been in every game they’ve played this season thanks to a much-improved defense that has four shutout victories. “They hold their own against any team out there,” Moldovan said.