Led by senior captain and Athlete of the Month Pam Vranis, the girls soccer team looks to remain undefeated heading into the playoffs. The Bulldogs have already clinched the Maryland 4A West division thanks to a powerful offense, which most recently propelled them to a 2-0 victory over Wootton Oct. 21.
“The biggest advantage is being able to get a seed in the playoffs and receiving a first round bye,” coach Haroot Hakopian said.
The Bulldogs defeated both Sherwood Oct. 19, with goals coming from Vranis, sophomore Jenna Cantor and two from junior Alexis Shay, and Clarksburg Oct. 12, by a score of 4-0 with two goals each from Vranis and junior Emily Heger.
“We want to keep our undefeated record,” senior captain Jackie Nolan said. “It will mean a lot going into the playoffs, and also CHS’ field is better than other fields, so we will have an advantage there.”
CHS went into the Oct.8 game against Gaithersburg needing a win or tie to clinch the division title, which would be the Bulldogs’ first in over 12 years. Gaithersburg had only one loss going into the game and many CHS players had missed practice for the Bulldogs that week due to illness.
“Intensity and focus [was the key] with people playing new positions because others [were] sick,” Hakopian said. “Also Gaithersburg likes to score early and then play defense the rest of the game.”
Even though the team did not have a full squad for any practice that week, they came away with a 1-0 victory over Gaithersburg with the only goal coming on a rebound by Vranis off a deflected shot by junior Alexis Shay.
“We did not have one of our best games,” Vranis said. “We were too excited due to what was at stake, so we made some unnecessary mistakes.”
The Bulldogs got a 4-1 victory against Richard Montgomery Oct. 1 with a goal coming from Nolan and a hat trick from Vranis. CHS was already up 3-0 when RM scored a goal, so the game was never in doubt.
“We had 28 shots on goal against RM,” Hakopian said. “So we practiced finishing the whole week before our next game [against Whitman].”
The lady Bulldogs shut out Whitman, 3-0, Oct. 5 and recorded 12 shots on goal. The practice clearly helped as they raised their scoring percentage and made more of their opportunities.
“I’ve never felt so much energy and passion within a team before,” Vranis said. “We deserve our record as of now and I feel like it’s all about our hard work and attitude towards this season.”