On Tuesday, September 29, the HHS Girls Soccer Team went up against the Holy Cross Indians at Tower Park. 

The freshman team began the night with an impenetrable defensive lining. They were able to keep control and domination over the ball at the start and kept up their communication. Holy Cross attacked with full force at the halfway point of the first period, however, making the score 0-1. 

The Lady Birds didn’t give up and made vigorous attempts to tie the score by the end of the first period. With 50 seconds left on the clock, the Lady Birds cornered the ball onto Holy Cross’s side of the field. Despite the dynamic attempts made by our offense, the ball wouldn’t make it past Holy Cross’s goalie. The period ended at a score of 0-1, Holy Cross. 

The period wasn’t the only thing that ended, though. 

During halftime, the weather turned colder, and a few raindrops fell. Dark clouds were rolling in, but no one was expecting what was to come. Right before the second period commenced, lightning struck out of nowhere, and it began to rain harder. Because of this, the freshman game ended early. 

Everyone at the game– spectators, athletes, and reporters– immediately took shelter or left the stadium entirely. Thankfully, no one got hurt.

The HHS Hilltopper reporters left the stadium due to the uncertainty of the weather. At the time, it was unknown if the varsity team would be able to play. The story will update with the future outcome of the varsity team. 

Update – September 30, 2020

The lightning and hail put the varsity game on hold. The team took shelter in the announcement booth to see if the storm would ease up enough to play safely. After 40 minutes of waiting, they got notified that it was safe enough to start the game. 

The teams got 20 minutes to warm up. Junior Hailey Barton recalled that it was much colder than anticipated earlier in the day. 

“[The game] started off really slow,” said Barton. “Everyone was sluggish, and we normally get more time to warm up.”

Despite the sluggishness, the varsity Lady Birds pulled out a knockout win with a final score of 8-1, Highlands. 

The next game for junior varsity (JV) and varsity is tonight, September 30, against the St. Ursula Bulldogs at St. Ursula Academy. The next game for the freshman team is on October 8.