As girls soccer finishes off a strong season with tons of wins and memorable games, they took a loss against Mountainside, pushing them out of the playoffs. Girls soccer put up a strong fight in the second round, losing 1-0 in penalty kicks. 

No matter how the playoffs went, you cannot ignore their job well done over the course of the 2023 season. Senior captain Anjali Cherian detailed their experience, explaining, “Overall our season didn’t go quite as planned, we were ranked fifth in state and were favored to go pretty far in playoffs, but we fell short in PKS after a dominant game in the second round of playoffs. During the regular season though, we played very well and succeeded as a team.” 

This was Cherian’s last game for LOHS, and she recounts her time as a Laker, “The past four years, the LOHS girls varsity soccer program has been very strong, continuously winning league or earning a top five seed in the state. We continue to have a lot of young talent even when the seniors graduate each year. The past four years have been extremely fun and have given me some of the best memories.” 

When asked how her final season was on a personal level, Cherian goes on to describe the team environment and her experience meshing with the team, “Even though it ended way too soon, this group of girls have been one of my favorite teams. We are so close and I think of all of them as some of my best friends. We always hangout outside of 

soccer, and I think that’s a big part of why we have such good chemistry.” There is no doubt that chemistry within a team can help them go a long way, with hardwork and teamwork hand in hand, it’s something that has helped take the girls soccer team far. Junior Julia Joseph agrees, complimenting her team’s success in account to their chemistry, “I thought our team culture was an important factor in our team’s success. We had great leadership.” 

The underclassmen and new upperclassmen already have set big goals for themselves for next year’s season. “One thing I would like to change next year is making it further in playoffs and winning state,” explained Joseph.