Jonnie Voyta
news editor

The girls’ varsity soccer team was hoping to add another win to their record as they faced off against Gaithersburg at home on Sept. 24.

The match started off strong for the girls’ as senior Mollie Greenberg placed the ball in the top right corner to put the Patriots up 1-0 in just the first 10 minutes of the game. However, the Trojans bounced back with a goal with a few minutes left in the half to tie up the to score 1-1 as the Patriots headed to halftime.

The Patriots responded quickly coming out of halftime as senior Carson Blum kicked the ball into the back of the net to give the Patriots the 2-1 lead with 25 minutes remaining in the game. The Patriots’ defensive unit was able to hold on to their lead for the rest of the game to secure the win. Their defense led by captains Meghan Murphy, Nicole Deprey, and goalkeeper Gabby Heitman is the strongest part of their team this year. “Our defense is very strong this year and are game against Gaithersburg proves the amount of talent we have this year,” Heitman said.

After the win against Gaithersburg, the Patriots stayed home to face the Quince Orchard Cougars on Sept. 27 as they tried to keep their winning streak alive. The Patriots started off struggling, as they failed to maintain possession of the ball, which led to the Cougars scoring two goals in the first half to lead 2-0. After the half, the Cougars continued playing well, scoring a goal within 10 minutes of the second half to increase the lead to 3-0. The Patriots

then cut the lead to only two goals after senior Alexis Zinselmeier scored. This was not enough for the Patriots as time ran out. “We didn’t play well against Gaithersburg and we need to improve this year if we want to reach our full potential,” senior center mid Mollie Greenberg said.

Hoping to bounce back after the loss against Quince Orchard, the Patriots headed to play the Northwest Jaguars on Oct. 1, trying to earn their fourth win on the season. It was an even match to start the game as both defenses played well, holding each other to no goals in the first half. In the second half, Northwest made a penalty kick to gain the first lead of the game at 1-0. After the penalty kick, it was a pretty quiet game as the Jaguars played great defense to keep the score at 0-1 giving the Patriots a devastating loss. “We should’ve beat Northwest, but we just got unlucky with the penalty kick,” senior defender Nicole Deprey said