The Centennial Girls soccer team have been off to a phenomenal start to the season with a 9-1-1 record so far which is a vast improvement from last season’s record of 5-7-1. The Eagles have beaten the likes of McMinnville, Franklin and Tigard all of which are decent teams. The Eagles are also currently ranked at 9th in the state, despite Monday’s 3-0 loss to Central Catholic.

The dynamic duo of junior forward Rebecca Wheeler and sophomore forward Chloe Smith has allowed the Eagles to take control of games early by taking early leads. Wheeler and Smith are the leading goalscorers on the team.  The duo has helped the Eagles in achieving many lopsided wins this season, for example the Eagles 7-1 win against David Douglas.

Not to be outdone the Eagles midfield play has been good this season, controlling the game and playing at their pace. Junior midfielder Gabbi Nowodworski has been a leader in the middle orchestrating the attack and helping on defense.  What has kept the Eagles in the lead this season according to head coach Kelsey Birkhofer has been the defense. Leading the back line for Centennial has been the job of experienced defender Jill Uyeda. Keeping the shots out of the net has been the job of standout goalie Alyssa Guthrie. So far this season she has only conceded nine goals, Guthrie also has three clean sheets under her gloves. The success in every area of the pitch has allowed the Eagles to gain the upper hand against their opponents.

Birkhofer highlighted that not many players graduating last season has led to good chemistry on the field for the Eagles. Birkhofer also said that the high level of effort and competitiveness has impressed her. Another plus this season is that the Eagles have so far not suffered any serious injuries, unlike other seasons where there have been season ending injuries that affected the team’s success.

At the beginning of the season Birkhofer and the team set a goal to improve, so far they have achieved that goal. “Our goal is to not be complacent and compete in every game against all the high level teams,” said the coach.

Despite the team’s recent success the Eagles still have the play Oregon City and Barlow both of whom are top 20 in the state.