Along with school getting back into swing, all of Wilsonville’s fall sports start back up! Girls soccer just finished their first two weeks, going 3-1. With a State Title streak to carry comes lots of pressure, but even more excitement for the 2024 season.
To learn more about the upcoming season and hear from the players’ perspectives, Senior Captain Kiah Fee shares some insight. Fee’s a starting center defender for the Wildcats. As a Senior, she has big shoes to fill from the 2024 graduate class, but she’s been working hard to preserve and leave the team culture untouched.
The team had to fill nine spots from graduates, pushing the 3-peat team into a “rebuild” season. Kiah Fee responded when asked about the difficulty of starting fresh, but she said that they’ve kept team traditions and maintained structure for how they run. “Keeping the team culture,” She starts, “Has kept the bond needed both on and off the field.”
All High School athletes have been told that “student” comes before “athlete.” Fee reflects on how her team keeps the balance of practice and school. She said, “It can be difficult, but the team values education highly. They work together and ask for help in school to improve their bond and grades.”
After three seasons in a row of state titles, there’s lots of talk about the fourth. Kiah Fee is one of few players with multiple state rings on her hand, but how does that evoke pressure for another title? Fee said that she’s used to that question and replied, “There’s pressure, but they must take the season one game at a time to get to the state game.”
Along with Kiah Fee, Junior, Sophia Lopez, was interviewed as the Wildcat outside forward. Fee had a lot to say about the history of the team and how they’ve gotten to where they are. But from Lopez, people can learn about this upcoming season and the future of the team.
Lopez says, “The girls have a difficult, but uncertain schedule playing new teams, (all being six A teams with high regards). Next week, they’re playing six A teams like West Linn and Oregon City, (both here at Randall), along with the rest of the regular season playing higher league teams.
Lopez agrees with Fee on the value of team chemistry and that their team does well in that. Lopez says their preseason summer training “helped with team chemistry.”
As well as Fee, Lopez, when asked about the pressure for a fourth Title, reflectsher thoughts in saying, “They can’t just worry about the state game and that’s it, they have to treat every game as if it’s their last to get to the state game.”
The Cats have proven in the past that they’re skilled and ready for another season of running the league. It won’t come easily, but the players have put in the work, and aren’t afraid of any opponent. Look at the girls’ soccer game schedule and cheer them on to another ring!