On April 15th, the girls soccer team competed at Conference at Schuyler Central High School. The girls soccer team placed at their first conference title game in eight years taking the Runner-Up spot. The girls are growing with more experience, however at this point in the season, many of them are tired or injured “so they may not be performing at their fullest potential at some games, it is easy for them to let up because they know how good the other team is,” explained Clarissa Eloge, SCHS ESL teacher and Head Girls Soccer Coach. The girls played four teams that are in the top 10 in Nebraska. They had to play the number one team in Class B 2x back to back. 

“After the Lexington game the girls were excited, but I knew that the Grand Island game would be super difficult,” explained Coach Eloge. They had a game off and then the girls got even more tired because of the cold and waiting, “but getting into the championship was a great feeling and I can only hope the girls will continue to improve in the years to come so hopefully this success will be a more normal thing,” commented Coach Eloge. Coach Eloge  was excited about how far the girls were able to get in the tournament, but she thinks they definitely should’ve done better against Grand Island. “Playing Lexington, we went in there and we were all pumped and gave it our all and after that game I was beyond proud of my team for how we were able to pull through,” explained Coach Eloge. 

 Many of the girls playing on the Varsity team have a lot more experience with the game due to playing on club teams. They had knowledge and skills before they entered high school so Coach Eloge didn’t have to focus as much on fundamentals and was able to work on other skills. “The more you know about a sport and its fundamentals, the easier it is to work on the more difficult aspects of the game,” explained Coach Eloge. Strengths that the girls have are being young and are able to get more experience every game just working together. Many of them have been playing together in the summers for a couple years. “We do an amazing job of competing and battling in games that seem close, there have been multiple games this season where we came out and really battled because the girls gave it everything they had,” shared Coach Eloge. 

Alyza Arroyo, a sophomore and second year soccer player at SCHS, explained that “Playing Lexington we went in there and we were all pumped and gave it our all and after that game I was beyond  proud of my team for how we were able to pull through.” Alyza shared that she brings a sort of leadership for the girls. “I am always trying to motivate and pump up the girls, because I want the team to get better together and I am always trying to help girls learn the game more and making sure everyone enjoys playing for Schuyler,” explained Alyza.

 Maria Genchi, a sophomore and second year player, shared that she “felt so much excitement when we got runner up.” Maria Genchi explained that the girls this year have been doing much better than last year. “There are teams that we lost to last year and ended up beating them this year,” explained Maria.  Maria feels like if it wasn’t for their communication getting better this year they wouldn’t be doing as good as they are doing right now. “I’m just honestly proud of how they are playing this year,” commented Maria.