Harrison Girls After A Second Soccer Title

The Harrison girls soccer team won yet another region title last Tuesday after defeating Hillgrove 2-1. The win gave Harrison home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, but head coach Steve Riccard said winning home-field was less important than the achievement of winning region. "What a great achievement winning region was for this group of players! They have etched out a niche to put their own stamp on girls high school soccer and understand the big picture of who we are and what happens when we take the field for training and games." Riccard was excited about seeing his team succeed and come together as a unit, because, as he sees it, once that happens other things, like gaining home-field, will come naturally.

The Lady Hoyas are in search of their second consecutive state championship in Class AAAAA, but Riccard says this is a different team from last year. When asked about if there was any pressure to repeat Riccard said, "There is no pressure from previous achievements; this team is its own entity and conscientiously working towards achieving our own goals. The only pressure we have is to achieve the standard that we set for ourselves every day in the school building, in the community and on the soccer field."

For this Lady Hoya squad to win another title, it will look to the upperclassmen for leadership and experience in a title run. Seniors Hannah Deltac, Anna Sims and Jessica Sperry, along with junior Monica Herrera and sophomore Savannah Vanderbeck were highlighted by Riccard as some of the leaders on and off the field, but as he said, "you could not help but notice the entire group's effort on the field whether they start or not." Riccard said the key for Harrison moving through the playoffs will be to "execute our style of soccer to the best of our ability each game and continue to play as a team."