The student news site of Iowa City High School

The Little Hawk

The student news site of Iowa City High School

The Little Hawk

The student news site of Iowa City High School

The Little Hawk

Staff Profile
Helena Echa
Helena Echa
Reporter

Girls soccer aims to make improvements

Abby+Schroder+12+battles+for+the+ball+against+Xavier+in+the+2011+season.++Photo+by+Renata+Stewart
Abby Schroder ’12 battles for the ball against Xavier in the 2011 season. Photo by Renata Stewart

After finishing last year’s season with a record of 2-15-1, the City High girls soccer team is looking up.  In the past the Little Hawks have flown under the radar with both the student body and opponents, but with improved play and determined effort, they are looking to draw more interest and fans to their games.

“We have the element of surprise on our side,” head coach Torsten Opitz said. “We want to come back with a vengeance and show that we are willing to fight.”

After losing only two seniors from the 2011 squad, a roster full of players with multiple years of varsity experience return to work on changing their team’s fortunes this season.

In order to do this, the team is improving three specific points of their game.  Opitz says they need to improve air strength, keep possession, and be tough on the ball in order to compete with the strong teams in their conference.

“We have a pretty good core, we have solid players,” assistant coach Edgar Arceo said.  “If everybody is willing to go 100 percent I think we’re going to have a good season ahead of us.”

In their first test of the year it appeared that the extra work had paid off as they were able to defeat Mount Vernon in the Washington Jamboree.  The team was able to keep possession of the ball for most of the 40 minutes, which was a major improvement from last year.  While the Mustangs may fall short in skill level, the 7-0 win gave the Little Hawks confidence going into their season opener against Cedar Falls.

“The game showed the team that if we put our hearts to it, we can win,” Opitz said.

The team was able to take their momentum into their matchup against the Tigers, but couldn’t hold on and lost the game in penalty kicks.  The Little Hawks maintained fairly good possession in regulation, but being unable to score sent them into over time.  In the extra minutes, the team had more shots on goal, but could not get the job done.  The game ended after City missed their sixth penalty.

“I was happy we were able to play a full game without having any letdowns,” captain Erin Danielson ‘13 said, “It would’ve been nice if we could’ve finished, but I thought we did a pretty good job.”

The inability to finish is what contributed to a loss against Union as well.  After sudden death overtime the score was 0-1.

As the season progresses the team hopes to keep improving and add more wins to their record.

“We have a good year ahead of us if we keep working hard everything will fall into place,” Danielson said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what the rest of the season will hold.”

By Annika Wasson and Oli Peters

Leave a Comment
Donate to The Little Hawk
$1775
$5000
Contributed
Our Goal

Your donation will support the student journalists of Iowa City High School. For 2023, we are trying to update our video and photo studio, purchase new cameras and attend journalism conferences.

More to Discover
Donate to The Little Hawk
$1775
$5000
Contributed
Our Goal

Comments (0)

All The Little Hawk Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Activate Search
Girls soccer aims to make improvements