Preseason practices have begun for the Aplington-Parkersburg girls soccer team. They’re coming off a 10-7 season last year, where they reached a 1A regional final.
After graduating two starters, the stage is set for an improved season with most of last year’s talent returning. Senior goalkeeper Emma Haan.
“It’s a confidence like no other truly,” Haan says. “We really have a great freshman class coming in too, and we just finished up our indoor soccer season. We saw tons of success for that. So honestly all of us are really excited and we have high expectations for ourselves, and I do think we’ll be able to achieve those expectations.”
Haan is coming off a season where she had a save percentage of 85.3 with just 25 goals against throughout the season. She describes what she’s learned the most during two seasons as the starter.
“The big thing as a goalie, and it seems maybe a little counterintuitive, but even if they score, you just can’t care. If our team gets down, I just can’t care about the score because then they’re going to score more if you get down on yourself. And I think especially in soccer when the game can turn around just like that when a lucky goal goes in, you really have to stay positive the entire time and stay on your A game. And soccer, especially goalie, has taught me that.”
Adri Allan and Kiara Morris led last year’s team in goals scored and are back for their junior seasons, having combined for nearly half of the scoring.
They’ll begin the season on Thursday, April 2 by hosting Union.
