By Vivian Collings

Win or lose, success is found among those who take a challenge and face it as a team.

In the pouring rain, the HHSS senior and junior girl’s soccer teams each played a game on their sodden home field on Monday, May 16 against Kenner Collegiate and Vocational Institute (KCVI), which determined the senior’s place at the Kawartha Championship on Friday, May 20 in Peterborough.

The junior team’s final score was 4-1 for the Red Hawks with Tea Yates and Grace Graham each scoring a goal and Cheyenne Degeer scoring two. The team is first in the A division, so they faced Campbellford District High School at the Kawartha Championship on May 20.

The Red Hawks won this game 5-1, so they will advance to the Central Ontario Secondary Schools Association (COSSA) Championship on Wednesday, May 25 at KCVI.

Red Hawks junior girl’s soccer coach Courtney Cook said that the small-school team has been able to find success by working on team skills and having fun together on the field.

“We kind of have the typical underdog story. We are a small, rural school facing larger, urban schools. We aren’t expected to win. Yet, the girls were able to show AA and AAA schools that we are a force to be reckoned with,” she said.

The Red Hawks senior girl’s team had a close game on May 16, but lost with a final score of 1-0 for KCVI. The Red Hawks were placed in a semi-final game at the Kawartha Championship in order to play a final game. 

Harmony Moher, Grade 12 senior girl’s player, said that she had confidence that the team could win their games, as they started the season with some losses, but were redeemed with great wins by focusing on working together as a whole.

“We stayed composed throughout the entire game on Monday even when things seemed tough and impossible. I am proud of the team for taking the feedback given to them and applying it straight away when playing on the field,” she said.

Senior girl’s team captain Bella Smolen said that many of the players on the team, like herself, have not played soccer before this year due to a hiatus in team sports during the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant that they had to learn to work together on the field.

Smolen said, “Our team went from playing individually on the field to playing as a unit and involving everyone when possible to increase our chances of winning.”

The senior team had a great win in their first game at the Kawartha Championship with a score of 5-1, but lost 2-0 in the final game and will not be moving on to the COSSA Championship.