After practicing tirelessly, the junior varsity girls’ soccer team has finished off their season.

“I was really excited when the season started,” explained team captain and sweeper Jessica Lee. “I’ve gotten to know our whole team, and we had a lot of strong players this season.” 

After leading the boys’ soccer team to the state semifinals for the first time in school history last season, coach David Jimenez took over the girls’ JV and Varsity teams as of this season.

“I decided to coach the girls’ teams because I believed that coaching the girls would be a good change, and a challenge considering the rough passage the girls’ team has been through these past years,” commented coach Jimenez.

The team only played five games this season, rather than their usual ten to fifteen. The reason for this is that many high schools in the area dropped their girls’ JV soccer team.

“Some assume that a lot of schools don’t have a JV team because recently there has been a lack of interested students,” Jimenez continued to explain. “Although, with there being an extremely large number of female players in Palm Beach County, it is unknown why so many schools can’t hold a roster.” 

With less than a fourth of the team being returning players, the team was filled with a plethora of freshman players. 

“At the beginning of tryouts, I was really excited, but also a little nervous that I wouldn’t make the team,” said freshman and goalkeeper Kylie Rosenbaum. “I’m really glad that I did though because everyone on the team is extremely nice and supportive.” 

With the skill level of opponents changing every year, the team never knew what to expect when going into the games.

“I felt like Wellington High would be the hardest team to face because they are known to have good players and a good team overall,” left-back and freshman Sienna Lay. “They are our biggest rivals, and everyone was working tirelessly to prepare for the game.” 

In retrospect, the Wellington game did end up being the most challenging and stress-inducing with Central taking the loss (3-0).

“Their team is definitely skilled,” said Jaclyn Little, also a freshman and their right-back. “I feel that one of the reasons they were successful was because most of the girls on the Wellington team have been playing on club teams alongside each other for many years.” 

To build challenges and learn from experienced players, the JV team practiced quite a bit with the varsity players.

“I believe practicing with varsity really challenges my skill set and keeps me motivated,” co-captain Tania Miguel said. “I think it’s extremely beneficial to the team.” 

With many of the varsity players being away to compete in tournaments for their club teams, many players of the JV team had to be moved up and play in the varsity games.This made many of the freshman players nervous. 

“I thought that I would feel out of place and I was scared that I would mess up and ruin the game for them,” exclaimed Miriam Alkatsha. “The varsity girls were really welcoming though, and I believe that I actually played well during the game.”

At the end of the season, the team finished with three wins and two losses.

“We definitely have a lot to work on and improve for next season, but generally, we performed well,” noted Lee.

Coach Jimenez echoed the sentiment, “Overall, this season went well. Although, there’s a lot we can work on and fix up for our next season.”