The regular season for soccer has ended and has moved into the playoff season. The RHS boys team did not make it into the playoffs this year ending with a 5-8-2 record, but the RHS girls had a very strong season leading them into the playoffs.  

The Varsity girls team also had a new coaching staff that the team had to adjust to. Sophomore goalkeeper Lilli Suarez says that “the most important factor getting to this point was to trust in our new coaching staff and to trust in each other.” Clearly this worked for the lady hornets as they headed on into the playoffs.

The girls ended their regular season with a 14-4-2 record that led them to the first round of playoffs on April 13 at Jackson County High School. The girls walked away with a 5-0 win and a spot in the sweet sixteen.

The team then traveled to River Ridge High School on April 20 to fight the Knights for a spot in the elite eight. The girls worked hard and came home with yet another win of 2-0. 

As the girls got further and further into the playoffs, it got tougher for them. Their next game was at St. Pius High School on April 24, and it was not an easy game. Both teams fought till the end, having to go into overtime. The girls pushed through and were able to leave with another win of 3-1. 

With this win, the girls were then final four bound. They faced off The Greyhounds at Pope High School on April 27. While many thought this was going to be a tough game being so deep in the playoffs, the girls made it look like a breeze and brought a 4-0-win home. This meant that the Roswell Girls Soccer team had clinched a spot in the GHSA 6A State Championship. Senior center back Ashley Meyer has been with Roswell’s varsity team since her freshmen year. Meyer said, “Making it this far has shown us all what we are capable of and showed how much we all care about each other.” 

This is a huge deal for not only the girls but for Roswell High School. No soccer program with Roswell between the boys or girls’ team has ever made it to the state championship in the school’s 74-year history.  Meyer says again that every day they get out there and “work our hardest for each other without drama or distractions.” 

The Roswell varsity girls soccer team traveled down to McEachern High School on May 5 for the GHSA 6A State Championship and went face to face with the Marist War Eagles. This was a tough matchup for the Hornets. Prior to the state championship, Marist was ranking number one both in Georgia and in the nation. The girls really needed to give their all-in order to take home the trophy.

With a scoreless first half, the girls really had to push through at the end. The guest section really showed out at McEachern with parents, teachers, and students in the crowd attired in green, black and white, cheering on and hyping up the lady hornets. Sophomore Emma Uhlmeyer, who is a member of the RHS junior varsity soccer team, came in support of her fellow Hornets. She says, “The atmosphere was amazing and it was so cool to see so many people come out and support the team.” 

Through the second half, freshman Maya Misawa and sophomore Rachel Phifer scored two quick, successive goals for RHS putting the Hornets up 2-0. The Hornets defense continued to stay strong, not letting Marist score once giving RHS the win. Suarez describes what the most important thing for the team to reach this point was, “we had a level of cohesiveness that was very apparent in our playoff game, especially in the championship.” 

The Roswell High School Girls Varsity Soccer team is now the 2023 GHSA 6A State Champions for the first time in history. Suarez says this feeling is “indescribable.”