Coming off two straight losses to Bethesda Chevy Chase and Richard Montgomery, the Patriots played on their home turf against Poolesville and made sure to end their season with a bang, delivering seven goals in a 7-1 victory.
The first game the Patriots played was against RM. The game was close the whole way, but the Patriots fell short 1-0 when the ref blew the final whistle. After the game, the Patriots discussed what they could improve on for their next two games. The team realized they had to shoot more and focus on moving the ball around to create more opportunities.

The next game was against BCC. The Patriots were ready to compete and come out victorious. Although the Patriots played their hearts out, they were not successful, with BCC winning 5-2. With one more game left, the Patriots were determined to win. “Our loss to BCC was largely due to our bad formation, which we fixed in the second half. After the game, we had to work on better protecting our side of the field and getting back on defense,” sophomore Aliki Shoemaker said.

Going into the Poolesville game, the Patriots had a sour taste in their mouth and knew what they had to improve on to win their last game. The aggressiveness and constant shooting paid off in the end for the Patriots. In the first half, Poolesville barely had control of the ball; the Patriots had possession almost the whole time and tested out the goalie with multiple shots, tiring her out for the next half. At the end of the half, the Patriot’s strategy paid off, leading 4-0 at the half. “The defense was really good at getting the ball back down the field towards our forwards and made great aggressive tackles. The offense was very good at far away shots and just taking every chance we got,” sophomore Vivian Pisani said.

After halftime, the Patriots were feeling confident in themselves starting the second half but a little cocky. Starting the second half, Poolesville showed more heart and started playing harder; they were able to take shots and make their first goal. The Patriots didn’t want to lose their last game and finish the season 0-3, so they stuck to their game plan and completed the game 7-1, finishing the season on a good note. “We all worked hard and backed each other up when we needed the support. Everyone played their roles, and when we got the chance to score, we capitalized on them,” sophomore Alina Salim said.

Due to Covid, the Patriots did not get an entire season and barely any time to prepare. Hopefully, next season they will have plenty of time to improve and work on team chemistry to perform as they did at this season’s last game.