Girls soccer wins DCIAA Championship

Alex Cirino, Sports Editor

he Wilson girls varsity soccer team won its tenth consecutive DCIAA championship on October 30 in a hard-fought 2-1 overtime victory over School Without Walls.

The team began the season with a strong 2-1 win against Paul VI, one of the best teams in the DMV. “It was a good start to the season that we could build off of,” junior Lilian Alten said. Having outscored their opponents 64-11, the Tigers went into the playoffs with a 11-3-1 overall record with plenty of momentum in their favor.

The girls soccer team entered the season aiming to win their tenth consecutive DCIAA title and their second ever DCSAA state title. The team accomplished their first goal on November 1, with a 2-1 overtime win in the DCIAA Championship over Walls. Freshman Liza Lindblom scored the first goal, and freshman Nevis Gatti scored with one minute left in the overtime period to secure the victory for the Tigers.

“I’m really happy we were able to finish strong with that beautiful goal from Nevis,” Alten mentioned. “When we went to overtime we stepped up when it mattered and scored a goal. It meant more to us that it was a close game because it is such a good representation of our season,” junior Erin Hollar said.

This victory was highly credited to the leadership of seniors Bella Lujan and Meghan Dayton. Aside from being an unbeatable duo on defense, Lujan and Dayton have brought a certain tenacity to each game and believe that win or lose there is still something for the team to work on. “Meghan is always extremely encouraging during practice,” junior Saige Gootman said. “Bella is a strong leader and gives us direction to improve.”

The team’s great postseason run unfortunately came short in the quarter-finals of the state tournament in a 1-0 loss against Washington International School.

“We really wanted to win this but the bigger disappointment was when we realized that was the last game with our seniors,” Hollar said. “Next year it’ll be senior year for nine of us and I want to win states, we all do,” Alten added. With only six seniors graduating from the team at the season’s end, expect more winning results and another promising push to becoming an elite team in the DMV.