Last season, the Ranger girls soccer team made winning a habit, and this season they have tried to duplicate that—but have had early struggles. In their game against Greenville on Wednesday, April 26, the girls certainly made strides toward a win. Coming into this game, the team struggled to find the back of the net; however, this game was different.

The girls were able to net ten goals in the first half, which caused the game to be halted at halftime due to the mercy rule. This was especially a good thing because goal-scoring was exactly what the girls seemed to struggle with in previous games.

“Against Greenville, we did a good job of playing our own game and finishing our chances. We held possession, got the ball out wide, put services in the box, and put them in the back of the net,” noted junior Haley Ward.

Due to the ten goals, there were quite a few goal scorers, including a hat trick by Haley Ward. Other goal scorers included Syd Ryan, Frankie Sutton, Ayla Thompson, and Dailey Tucker. This performance has the girls confident because they are finally finding the finishing touch that they have sought for a while. How do they keep this going?

Haley answered, “To continue playing this well, we need to focus on coming out with intensity right from the start of the game, defending our box with full effort, and finishing our chances. Executing all of these things will ensure we win.”

Keeping this form will be very important for the girls, especially ahead of some tough upcoming games. The girls play Unity Christian, the number one ranked team in Division 3 on Friday, April 28. This highly anticipated matchup will take place at Ranger Stadium. A win in this game would mean a lot for the team as the postseason lingers in their future.