For those unaware of the world of 3A women’s soccer, Academic Magnet, Bishop England, and Oceanside are the teams to beat in Region 8. No disrespect to the other teams, but the region is fully aware that these are going to end up as the top three teams, it is simply a question of who will be first, second, and third. For this reason, these are the games that matter the most in the season, some may say the only games that really matter in the season. 

The first BE game was the best game that the AMHS women’s soccer team has played in the 2022 season, resulting in a 5-1 win. This was the first competitive region game of the season and the energy of this game was unmatched: everyone played hard, the goals were on frame, the fans were cheering loud. Goals were scored by: Kaylin Morris, Caley Jacobs, Mattie Vermette, Sadie Hoertdoefer, and Chloe Wren. TheBishops did manage to score one goal, but it did not matter as the Lady Raptors had already defeated the Battling Bishops. The women’s soccer team had never beat Bishop England by that large of a margin, so it really was an outstanding game.   

The next big game we played was against Oceanside. It was an away game on Oceanside’s new field. Practicing at the historic Ravenel Stadium, the Raptors were not used to playing on a very wide field, a field like Oceanside’s, putting the Raptors at a big disadvantage. Furthermore, the starting center back, Mary Archambault, was nursing an ankle sprain and unable to play, another huge disadvantage. Luckily the team was able to adapt to the unfortunate situation, and came out of the game with a 2-1 win, placing them at a great odds to win the region. Goals were scored by: Mattie Vermette and Bryanna Oliver-Reed. All the raptor women’s soccer team needed to do was beat Bishop England in the upcoming game and they would finish first in the region.

The season then took an unfortunate turn during the second Bishop England game. Maybe it was because it was on BE’s home field, or maybe the team was worn out after a long day of school, regardless of what it was the team did not perform well. There was no energy on the field, the Bishops were beating the Raptors to every ball, and mistakes were being made left and right. Ultimately the game resulted in a 3-2 loss, which put the Raptors in a tough position in which they needed to win the Oceanside game in order to win the region. 

On April 26, the Oceanside game was intended to start at 5:30 pm at the Raptor’s historic Ravenel Stadium, but a lightning delay pushed the game back to 6:00 pm. After being cooped up in a small locker room for around 40 minutes, you could definitely say the Raptors were taken aback by Oceanside’s high energy play by the start of the game. During the game, the Raptors had support from larger-than-normal student section as well as from the Bishop England High School Girls Soccer Team. 

In the first half, the Landsharks scored three goals, making the score 3-0. At halftime, Raptor Head Coach Alister DeLong made a decisive choice to move defender Gracie Mochizuki to outside midfield, and placing sophomore Abby Poole to right outside back, hoping to create some creativity up top. Unfortunately, in the second half, the Raptors were unable to score, and Oceanside banked one more goal off a corner kick, making the final game score 4-0. 

Losing to Oceanside meant that there was a three-way tie for the first place spot in the region. Regulation dictates that to solve this three way tie, the teams will pull straws to determine each team’s seeding for the region. Whichever team gets the short straw gets a “by” on the first game. Luckily the Raptors won the drawing and got the “by”, meaning Oceanside and Bishop England play on Thursday, April 28 . This means the Raptors are guaranteed at least the two seed in the region and will host the first round of playoffs at their home field. Whichever team loses the Oceanside versus Bishop England game will end up as the third seed in the region, and the winning team will progress to play the Raptors. (Update: BE beat Oceanside 3-2)  The winner of the game against the Raptors will be the first seed team and winner of the region. 

No matter the outcome of the seeding matches, the Lady Raptors are guaranteed to make the playoffs. Below are the dates that the Playoffs will take place and each game is dependent on a Raptor win: 

1st Round: Tuesday, May 3rd

2nd Round: Thursday, May 5th

3rd Round: Saturday, May 7th

Lower State Championship: Tuesday, May 10th

State Championship Game: Friday, May 13th