Last night, the Highlands Girls Varsity Soccer team knocked off the Notre Dame Academy Pandas to advance to the state tournament for the first time since 2010. The final score was 1-0. Starting off with tremendous speed and energy, Freshman Chloe Bramble scored the Birds’ first and only goal less than 20 minutes into the first half and kept this lead the rest of the game.

Senior Hanna Buecker said communication and intensity were key.

“We had good communication, along with intensity. Even when we let down, we came back with more energy. Overall, it was a great team win.”

Buecker said that technical skills will help keep “the streak up.”

“[We] will need to continue to improve their technical skills and “make sure we play the ball at the right time to the right sport. We further need to keep talking to each other and fix our little mistakes.”

According to Junior and Goalkeeper Maggie Hinegardner, NDA has always challenged the program, so last night’s game, especially in the last 5 minutes, “where everyone was tired but wanted to win so bad,” sparked a flame in the Birds allowing them to strive for their end goal.

Hinegardner said the feeling of family made the difference.

“It’s an even better feeling to advance to the next round with your second family, and with a group of girls you can both trust and count on to better you on and off the field.”

Senior Gwen Gorman was the Region 9 tournament Most Valuable Player. Senior Hanna Buecker and Juniors Tatum Price and Maggie Hinegardner were members of the All Tournament team.

Highlands will play on Monday, October 22 at Tower Park in the semi-state match against the Region 10 winner at 7pm.