The Girls Centennial Varsity Soccer team’s 2023 season is off to a good start. Lindsay Chavez, a sophomore for Centennial says “The season is going well. I think the team has been really united on the field.” Centennial is currently ranked 28th in state. They have scored 11 goals this season and have an overall record of 2-6-2.
The Centennial Varsity girls soccer team struggled last couple seasons. Back in 2021, their whole starting lineup graduated leaving the next season without players. In 2022, their former coach Kelsey rebuilt their team with mostly a freshman class.
This year, they won two games against Parkrose and Reynolds which were their most recent games. They got beat by Corbett, Sandy, Gresham, Hood River Valley,Hillsboro, and Aloha. They tied Milwaukee 2-2 and Central 1-1. Lindsay Chavez says “we should have won a few other games but the refs haven’t been the best.”
Centennial’s overall record is looking better than the previous season. They’ve received a new head coach named Gabbi Nowodworski because Kelsey Birkoffer, the previous coach for 13 seasons, decided to take a step back from coaching. Lily McDermott, a sophomore on the team says “our coach has impacted our team in such a positive way and helps us work together so much better on the field.” Darlyn Urzua followed up by saying “she’s a decent coach, she’s young which is nice because we can relate to her and feel more comfortable around her.”
Centennial just remodeled their track and made their old grass turf with help of the US National guard. It took a few months to finish but all the teams were super excited to play on it.
Centennial JV and Varsity girls played against Hillsboro on October 4th 2023 at 7:30 on their new turf. Hillsboro is ranked number 5 in the state currently with only one loss. They beat both of the Centennials team 5-0 adding another win to their records. Centennial put up a very good fight and held both teams at 2-0 until the second half when Hillsboro put a few more in the net. Lily McDermott says if she could change anything about the game she would change her team’s attitude and try to be more positive overall.
Centennial sports haven’t been good for the last few years because of the lack of students that are willing to try out. Most teams are unable to make cuts because of the small number of people that come out. Centennial girls soccer had 18 girls total try out in the summer leaving 4 players left for JV, Jvs team was just finalized last week because they needed more players. Centennial is hoping in the next few years their sports program will be improved for all sports around the athletic department.
