Junior goalkeeper Krista Quicker walked up to the goal line with the fate of the season in her hands. After saving the Bulldogs from elimination several times throughout the game, CHS needed one more miracle out of Quicker. However, B-CC’s next penalty kick was well-placed and found its way into the net to knock the girls soccer team out of the playoffs.

After a perfect regular season, the Bulldogs lost a heart-breaker in the county finals to the Washington Post’s number three ranked B-CC in a penalty shootout.

The Nov. 10 county championship game was tied 0-0 after regulation and two overtimes, so it came down to penalty kicks.  In front of a packed CHS crowd at Richard Montgomery, the Bulldogs lost the shootout 4-2. Although this season was a monumental step forward for the girls soccer program, the playoff loss left the team unsatisfied.

“We are all disappointed,” coach Haroot Hakopian said. “We felt we were playing well enough to compete for a state championship.”

Prior to being eliminated, the Bulldogs defeated Whitman Nov. 5 in an exciting county semi-final.  The Bulldogs started off the game with two goals by sophomore Jenna Cantor in the first half.  In the second half Whitman answered with two goals of its own to tie the game with four minutes left.  Then, as time was ticking down, with less than 30 seconds left in the game, senior captain Pam Vranis found junior Julia Bell for a goal to the give the Bulldogs a 3-2 win.

“The Whitman win was a perfect example of a team choosing to continue playing instead of giving in when things go wrong,” Hakopian said.  “We played hard for the entire game and won it with 28 seconds remaining.”

This mentality was especially important in the one-loss playoff elimination format.  The Bulldogs began their playoff run with a 6-0 win over Northwest Nov. 3.  The team started off slow but came on strong towards the end.

“In the first half we were not playing to our strengths so by the second half we regrouped, changed formation to how we needed to in order to win,” Vranis said.

Stellar play from the goalkeepers and defense made the explosive offense even more incendiary. The Bulldogs’ play in the defending half led to many shutouts this season. 

“Our goalkeepers, juniors Quicker and Nicole Andrews, have both had fantastic seasons,” Nolan said.  “Their level of intensity and skill has had such a positive effect on the rest of the team, making all of us have to work that much harder to score and create opportunities.”

Despite a disappointing finish, the Bulldogs showed much improvement on last year’s mediocre 5-6-1.

According to Vranis, the season has been especially exciting because CHS had never really been taken seriously and finally gained some respect.

“I have never been more proud of a team and I have never coached a better team than the girls this year,” Hakopian said.