Last year, the girls soccer season ended with a heartbreaking loss to Jesuit at the state finals. They lost 2-1.
When the team’s senior players graduated, they left behind a younger, less experienced group of girls.
This year, senior captains Kianna Green and Sandra Seppalainen joined head coach Tim Copeland to lead the team. Even among the three, they agreed not to hold high aspirations for the 2011 season.
“We had to learn how to focus and understand each other’s playing styles so we could work off of each other,” Green says.
Starting out rocky, they beat Gresham only to lose the next game against Thurston.
Learning to develop a more physical style of playing, the girls became synched as a team. As a result, they won five of their next six games.
The win against Grant’s rival Lincoln at home was a moment the team will never forget. With both goals made by junior Juli Hairston, the 2-1 win was the first for Grant girls soccer in eight years.
“Beating Lincoln was amazing,” Seppalainen says. “The concentration during the school day and before the game was impressive and our hard work really paid off.”
The team was hopeful for the playoffs. In the first round, freshman Gabby Story scored the winning goal off a corner kick in the last 40 seconds, winning 3-2.
Grant then traveled to South Salem for the second round, ready to win. Seppalainen scored the only goal in the first half. Then, South Salem scored twice in the second half. The winning goal came in the last 18 seconds of the game and Grant lost 2-1.
Copeland says that despite having a very good game plan, the girls gave up a goal they shouldn’t have. Although it was disappointing to lose, Green feels the season was a success with Parkes Kendrick being named Special District 1 Player of the Year.
Hairston, who scored 13 goals for the team this season, is already committed to play for Purdue University when she graduates in 2013.
“I’m really excited for next year,” she says. “It’s going to be a good year. We’re going to be a solid team.”
Although the seniors leave behind their last season as Grant High Generals, they recognize the accomplishments made this year.
“I’m going to miss the girls,” Green says. “We bonded so much more this year. We were a whole new team.”
