The varsity girls’ soccer team played the Trion Bulldogs on Tuesday, March 26, but came up short losing 2-1.

The game started off strong, as senior Ashley Hankinson scored a goal early in the first half.

“Ashley scored which got us off on the right start. The corner kick was the first goal in the game and it was a good beginning,” freshman Maddie Schick said.

The team faced an unfortunate injury halfway through the first half of the game.

“We were playing pretty well, but then Leah [Lambert] hurt her leg about 25 minutes into the first half,” freshman Princesa Pace said. “After she got hurt, I feel like I kind of didn’t try as hard and we could’ve done a lot better.”

The injury affected the team’s performance throughout the rest of the game.

“Leah’s injury definitely took a toll on the team and set us back some,” freshman Sarah Tunnell said. “I think it discouraged us and we didn’t put as much effort in the rest of the game. That was one of the main reasons we lost I think.”

The Bulldogs outscored the Tigers and won 2-1.

“After Leah’s injury, we were just slower and then Trion scored on us twice. I feel like if I changed my mindset after they scored the first time, it would’ve helped us,” Pace said.

The team still felt they played a tough game.

“Even with the injury, overall, I think the team played well. Everyone hustled and did what they were supposed to do for the most part,” Tunnell said. “We all played really hard, but we ended up losing because we kind of got discouraged after Leah’s injury and lost some of our effort.”

The girls hope to move forward from the loss and play harder their next game.

“Even if we win or lose, we can always make progress with the team with our skills and teamwork. With this game I hope we can take away from it and use it in our next games,” sophomore Tanya Maples said.

Despite the loss, the soccer team learned a lot from the game and have improved since.

“Since the game, we have gotten better at our spacing on the fields and playing our positions. We now know that we need to focus more on trapping the ball and being more spaced from the game,” Maples said.