Varsity soccer recap

Through determination and team bonds, Mid-Pacific’s Varsity Girls Soccer team saw many successes this year with seven regular-season wins and a second-place finish in the finals.

“We were D1 last year and that was hard because we were losing all the time, but with D2, we’re winning more and it has some effect on the mind,” senior Natasha Strongosky said.

This year’s team is made up of 19 girls ranging from freshmen to seniors. Since last year, not only have there been changes to the division, but also the players.

“Our girls got pretty close this year. We go on a big island trip at the start of the season called the HBA tournament, and that’s probably my favorite part. We get to meet all the new freshmen and then become close with them. I think we all bonded a lot this year,” junior Avery Higuchi said.

This annual event gives the athletes an occasion to get to know one another on a personal level. To the team, being connected is both important and unavoidable.

“Suffering as a team, having to run together, having to do practice in the pouring rain together– you bond over these types of things,” Strongosky said.

Not only do these friendships make soccer more fun, but they also help the athletes in action.

“With these kinds of bonds, they can really help on the field. [When] you become friends with them, you start to know eachother better. You start to know what is their next move and it’s so satisfying to see,” senior Kelsie Chinen said.

Off-field chemistry plays a crucial role in the team’s ability to execute team strategy, as evidenced by the successes of the team this year.

“When I was at PAC-5, everyone was kind of for themselves compared to here, where you see everyone every day, you can bond with them, especially when we went on the HBA trip. Whenever someone was feeling down, we, as a team, always tried to cheer up the person and say ‘oh, it’s okay, you’ll do good on the next play’. There’s these assurances and encouragements that I really love,” freshman Janey Chang said.

Though they did not finish first place in their division, the challenge of their competitors only motivates them to keep pushing.

“We worked hard, we played hard, and next year we will do much better and we’ll just keep fighting through it so we can go states and try to get number one for D2,” Chang said.