The girls soccer team had a heated match against one of their most toughest rivals, Prairie Du Chien. For years, Galena has had a struggle to win against this team. Coach Vazquez said, “I really dislike going against them. I knew that we needed to flip the switch for this game and make a difference on the field.” The girls soccer team made sure to focus on their defensive skills and look at what PDC was good at.
In the first half, Galena knew what they needed to do: stay on defense. Alivia Northrup ‘27 said, “My job was to watch #3, one of their best players. It was really tough, but I remembered to focus on the ball and watch where it was going.” Not only did these girls make sure to block out PDC, but they also made sure to not let those girls push them around. Molly Beadle ‘25 said, “These girls liked to be a little physical, so we made sure to do the exact same and take over the ball.” Unfortunately, PDC managed to get their first goal on the Pirates through a penalty kick.
At halftime, the team was able to get a little break from working so intensely and to talk about what they were doing. Coach Spencer Pyle said, “We were doing amazing, we just needed to open more opportunities on offense in order to score.” The team talked about what they were doing right, what they could improve on and how they could work on communicating more with each other. Coach Vazquez said, “They had one specific girl who did everything for them. I knew that if we could guard her and take the ball up, we’d secure a win.”
In the second half, the girls made sure to remember what they were told. They kept up with their defense, but faltered when the PDC girls started to get in their head. Leiah Adams ‘26 said, “Once #3 started to dribble, it was hard to stop her. She kept up with her rhythm and we struggled to guard that.” Unfortunately, PDC scored 2 more times on the Pirates. With the final whistle blowing, it ended the game at 0-3. Coach Pyle said, “I knew that we could’ve had that win. I wanted these girls to remember this feeling and to not let it happen again.” Even with the loss, the girls held their heads up high in confidence for their next game against PDC. Their next game is on April 17th at home, make sure to pull up to support your Galena Pirates!
