The varsity girls’ soccer team dominated the field in their first game of the season, pulling off a 6-0 win against Minooka on March 14.

Junior forward Mia Davis scored the Tigers’ first goal 25 minutes into the match. She went on to achieve a hat trick, or three goals, by the end of the game and was chosen by her team as player of the match. Her second goal put North at a 2-0 lead by halftime.

“I think the biggest contributing factor was the fact that, despite it only being our first game, we were almost immediately able to move well off of and with each other to create our [scoring] chances,” Davis said.

The Tigers showed no signs of slowing down as they powered through the second half of the game. Davis led the charge, scoring her third goal early in the second half. Senior midfielder Reese Capion, junior forward Alexandra Tetteh and sophomore center-midfielder Lauren Mrugala each scored a goal.

“[The team’s strengths were] adjusting to the changes in coaching during the flow of the game [and] trusting each other,” varsity head coach Kathleen Monterosso said.

This victory marks a hopeful start to the 2021-2022 season following an unconventional couple of years for the girls’ soccer program. Their entire season was canceled in 2020 after the initial outbreak of Covid-19, and they played with many pandemic-related restrictions last year. Nevertheless, the Tigers made the most of their situation.

“Two years ago we didn’t get to play at all, so being able to experience a close to normal season for the first time last season was a major highlight,” junior Alex Tetteh said.

Last season the Tigers finished 4th in Conference with a record of 10 – 4 – 2. Monterosso attributes this achievement to her athletes’ optimistic mentality and hopes it will continue this year.

“The girls always came in with a positive attitude, and the work ethic to perform and become better was evident every day,” Monterosso said. “They never gave up during games. Everyone worked to make the person next to them better and encouraged them.”

The team is looking to continue this standard of hard work and positivity as the current season progresses. They have been conditioning since early January to improve their game, and they have emphasized perfecting the team dynamic on the field in more recent practices.

“[We focused on] finding our rhythm in moving off of the ball,” Monterosso said. “Also, movement off of the ball in defending situations so that each player is covered and balanced.”

With their first game in the books, the girls’ soccer team is looking forward to the rest of the season ahead of them.

“This season, I’m excited to see our team succeed,” senior Reese Capion said. “I hope to lead us to a record season. I look forward to making my last year full of great memories and huge wins.”