Back with a desire to win against cross-town rivals, the varsity soccer team was looking to dominate the field on April 21, 2023 at the Norsemen’s home stadium. With every soccer game bringing its own challenges, the fierce competition not only presents physical demands but also emotional ones.

The women’s varsity Blue Devils have yet to win a game against the Norsemen in many recent seasons, including a 2-1 loss at the start of this April. Eleni Melhem ’24 knows that the pressure is on when they compete against North’s team.“There’s a lot of nerves being built up on the team,” Melhem said. “It means that it’s a lot more than just the physicality of the game–there’s a lot of mental strength that needs to go into it.”

Just putting up a physical fight has shown to not be enough for this team. The expectation of excellence can get in the way of winning. Despite this, the team never stops trying to score that next point.

“Physically, we think we’re the stronger team but for some reason can’t come out on top,” Melhem said. “We have not been able to win for the past five years. Something in the brain we struggle with. We still put up a fight, we do put up a fight and we fight until the end.

Staying true to fighting to the end, the team fought for every point they got. Ending the game in a 2-2 tie, Lainey Morgan ’24 scored the second point for the team in the last minute of gameplay.“It was very exciting,” Morgan said. “It was a huge relief for the rest of the team, too.”

As their season continues, the team is recognizing they don’t want to lose, but they are moving forward with their games.“We knew that we did not we obviously didn’t want to lose, so a tie was better than a loss, but we didn’t play how we normally would,” Melhem said. “We felt that we deserve better than to lose, so for us, a tie just felt good.”

Gallery|6 Photos

PUTTING IN THE HUSTLE Addison O’Keefe ’24 chases the ball down the sideline, preparing to get it back to South’s side of the field.