Last year girls’ varsity soccer won the 2023 GHSA 6A State Championship, a first in the history of Roswell’s 74-year soccer program. The 2024 soccer season is on the way and with tryouts ending, practices and games have begun.
Initially, players start the season by getting fit, learning, and getting to know everyone on the team. The start of the season included finding new players to step into the roles of past seniors who graduated. The loss of graduated seniors has always, according to Coach Mary Desing, has been a struggle. Talented seniors are leaving and moving on to new opportunities, this year especially, when comparing it to last season’s success.
Sophomore Maya Misawa played a key role in the playoff games as a freshman last year. Going into the season now being more experienced she hopes to be a mentor, friend, and support to the younger players. Misawa said, “Last year I was one of the youngest players on varsity, so I was extremely scared of messing up… but everyone was super nice and helpful in teaching me things.”
Team building is a priority and Desing said, “We need to become a team, work together, and be ready to give everything we have day in and day out. Then we need to reach goals throughout the season before we can look towards the goal of a state championship.”
Leading up to the playoffs last year, the team was ranked as a no. four seed and not expected to come out victorious. However, it was the commitment and connection of the team that allowed them this win. In the 6A Region 7, Roswell is currently standing at fourth between Lassiter, who is at third, and Alpharetta at fifth. When looking at national rankings Roswell places at ninth with Ashley eighth, and Denmark seventh. Desing favors not to deeply look at rankings because she feels it’s unpredictable.
The official season kicked off Feb. 1, with a scrimmage against West Forsyth High School bringing a win for Roswell with a score of 1-0.
Then, Feb. 6 brought a surprise loss against Milton resulting in a loss of 0-1 Roswell. Last year, Max Prep ranked Roswell no. 4 and Milton no. 55 in Georgia for 2022-23.
The latest game on Feb. 9 brought a win of 4-1 against River Ridge.
Previously, the team has held a record for starting seasons very strong. Over the past four years, the first game has been either a win or a tie. The 2019-2020 season started with the game on Feb. 4 against Pope High School had a score of 2-0. In 2020-2021 against Pope on Feb. 2 was a tie 0-0, the following year 2021-2022 against Cambridge High School was yet again another tie 3-3 on Jan. 26. As for last year against Forsyth Central on Jan. 31 was a win with a score of 3-2.
The expectations of these players have risen as their ability to perform well and succeed is apparent. Misawa said, “I feel like a lot of the players and the coaches are very excited about this season but are also feeling a lot of pressure. We have the same main coaches, and they always push us to our best, so in a sense of work ethics and commitment to the sport, it will be a lot like last year.”
