Throughout the 2011 regular season, the varsity girls soccer team won six games, lost five and tied three, including a 5th place finish in the Patriot District with two wins, three losses and two ties against district opponents. This was a considerable improvement over the winless district regular season result last year.

“I think the team did well this season, because we were able to place better in the district and have a better record in the district,” sophomore Christina Uglietta said.

They started the season off strong, losing only one out of four games to Centreville High School, one of the top teams in the region. The team entered the district games with confidence and beat Robert E. Lee and West Potomac.

The team attributes their successful season to the introduction of new offensive and defensive lines. In addition, the team is led by the strong anchoring of Head Coach Janeen Westphal and team captains Alley Adcock, Micaela Filsoof and Jane Aman.

Although the regular season game against South County ended in a 1-1 tie, the team remained hopeful and confident about their first-round district tournament game against the Stallions.

“I think we can compete with South County in the first round if we play as a team and work together,” Westphal said before the game, which ended to late for this issue.

According to Westphal, the girls have improved this season by playing as a team. However, she hopes to develop the team to be more offensively driven and increase goal scoring opportunities.

The team’s greatest strength thus far has been their ability to control the ball. Players, coaches and parents have all noted the team’s overall growth and have named them as one of the most possession-oriented teams the AHS girls’ soccer program has seen in years.

Aman’s strong goaltending has kept the team in many games throughout the season, as demonstrated during the team’s Senior Night game versus Fairfax High School. Aman will be attending The College of William and Mary in the fall, and will play goalie for the school.

The JV soccer team has also been successful this season under the new leadership of Kaiti McCaffery, who helped them improve their overall performance in practices and games, and left coaches optimistic about the future of the program.

“I really like Coach McCaffery because she always pushes us to work our hardest and she has a good sense of humor,” said JV player, Katie McCann.

After a long season of hard work, exhausting practices and competitive games, the team hopes to build upon the success of last year’s tournament, where they eliminated the top team in the first round of districts. The team’s hard work culminated in their first round game on May 16, which ended too late to be covered in this issue.