The Oyster River High School (ORHS) Girls Varsity soccer team took on their fiercest rivals, Coe-Brown Northwood Academy (CBNA), on September 20th where they fell in a tough 3-1 loss. That loss pushed them to practice and prepare because today (October 10th) they take on the Bears again, at home at 6:30pm.
The Bobcats currently have a record of 6-4-2 (wins-losses-draws) which puts them at sixth place in the NHIAA Division II standings well behind 9-2-1 CBNA, who sit in second.
Coach Sabrina Rivers reflected on their last match, which was held at CBNA: “it wasn’t our best performance.” The girls were dealt a tough hand having a late away game the night before with many of them getting home shortly before midnight and then having to get up for school and prepare for such a high stress game which led to the game not going in their favor.
Bridget Hawley, a sophomore on the team, shared that the loss to Coe-Brown shattered the team’s confidence and since then they have been practicing hard. In their games since the CBNA loss the team has been performing well, finishing 2-2 for their last four games. their last four games.
Lately the team has been working on trying for better possessions, by passing and seeing the field, and creating opportunities to score. Coach Rivers’s main goal for the CBNA rematch is to be “first to the ball. I think we need to increase the intensity and get them to that next level. First to the ball will get us first to attack, first to defense, and start off strong.”
“Our focus is really to get better every day. It’s not to win a championship, it’s not to win a playoff, it’s just to get better every day and hopefully by the time playoffs hit we’re hitting our peak,” shared Coach Rivers before continuing, “I think the more adversity you face the more you grow from it.”
Hawley is excited about the rematch saying, “We all are just like, we need to win. We’ve won home every time except for once and Coe-Brown usually loses away so that’s giving us some hope.” Hawley also mentioned the team’s overall excitement about playing in front of home fans and highlighted that this is a game they’ve been working towards and feel ready for.
With just four games left in the regular season, the girls are hoping for a big win over the route four rivals. Be sure to head out to the ORHS turf to support our Bobcats as they take on the Bears at 6:30pm.
-Delaney Nadeau
Images Courtesy of Lily Fitzgerald