Jupiter High’s girls soccer team defeated Dreyfoos at home on Nov. 7 with a score of 2-0, winning the first game of their season. 

The team is putting in a lot of effort to prepare for the season.

“We are continually developing our tactical understanding of the game and of our team’s strengths and weaknesses with the intention of consistently improving until we can put our best team on the field for playoffs,” Kody Drake, head coach, said. 

Along with these preparations, the girls are working towards other goals off the field.

“I think one of the main goals for this year is to build up the bond within all of the girls and strengthen friendships and hopefully, they will correlate on the field to help us win [districts and beyond],” Malloy Mauch, senior center midfielder captain, said. 

Many of the girls have played soccer since middle school. They believe winning is just as important as the lessons it’s taught them throughout the years.

“Soccer is a home away from home and it helps me stay mentally and physically stable. Over the years, it has taught me leadership and teamwork skills along with athleticism,” Gianna Granda, sophomore center forward, said. 

Playing soccer has slowly drifted away from strictly fun, to searching for a collegiate career. However, the collegiate level is not easily attainable–it takes a lot of hard work, practice, and experience. 

“I think [varsity soccer] would be good for college because we get to play against harder teams and raise the competitiveness to make us better in the future [when we go off to college],” Valentina Vryonides, freshman outside midfielder, said. 

Additionally, the level of varsity soccer is not easy and is very similar to some collegiate levels. This level can help make the playing field more intense and create a higher standard for some players to work towards. 

“Since this is my first year [on the varsity team], I feel like there is more energy to win and more pressure to be as good as the older girls, and I look up to them [as leaders] because they have more experience than I do,” Molly Gildea, sophomore outside defender, said. 

After losing in the district finals last year to Treasure Coast, the girls hope to win most, if not all of their games this season, become district champions, and make it to regionals. The girls’ next game is away on Nov. 17 versus Park Vista.

“My ultimate goal is to win regionals; however, before that, I would like for our team to win the district finals, which will be held at Jupiter for the first time in several years,” Drake said.