With a few injuries early on and with more young players on the team, the girls varsity soccer team had a rough start to the season.

“We had a shaky start, but we’re improving a lot now,” said sophomore Katie Phan. “Our communication and chemistry as a team has gotten better.”

Phan added that with the injuries the team lost some skill. “We were able to push past and deal with the players we have, which worked out well,” she said.

Along with the lost injured players, the team also lost many seniors from last season. “Since we lost so many seniors last year, we brought more players up from JV,” said junior Diana Charrier.

Several positions were also switched in the beginning of the season to strengthen the teams formations. “We realized we were not really organized,” said Phan. “So we just stepped it up and started to play better. We changed our errors.”

Charrier agreed with Phan and said, “Before, we were moving around differently [on the field]. Now we’ve kind of got to where we should be on the field and we’re getting used to playing those positions.”

According to sophomore Chivon Crump, the team is still working on its formation on the field. “We’re trying different formations, trying to figure out what’s working for us,” she said. Crump said that the team is working on getting more players on midfield in offense to improve its counter attacks.

Coach Marc Gonzales explained that the formations changes have to do with key players. “Sometimes we change [the formation] cause we have to play for the best match up, he said.”

Other tactics the team are trying to improve on is man-marking and passing to each other. “We need to work on communication such as calling for the ball and telling where people are open,” said junior Andrea Grabau.

The team ended the season in fifth place with a final score of 4-6-2. Gonzales said, “On the positive side we have a strong core of girls who’ll be returning next year.”