The girls’ varsity soccer team played its first game of the 2025 section playoffs on Oct. 8, facing Hiawatha Academy. The game resulted in a dominant victory for the team with a commanding 6-0 win over their opposition.
GVS entered sections coming off an unexpected first-round exit in last year’s competition, with the team hoping to redeem themselves this year and hopefully advance further in the season. This season has also brought about many changes, including the naming of new captains and the addition of numerous new players. Seniors Lucia Gonzalez, Clare Ryan Bradley and Elizabeth Tuttle are the captains of the team who have led their team throughout the regular season and will continue to do so in the postseason.
Goals came early for the Spartans, with the first goal coming from junior Sofia Johnson just 10 minutes into the game. After scoring the first goal, they did not look back and continued to attack the box, adding five more goals. Sofia Johnson scored a second goal soon after, followed by a goal from sophomore Lucy Lowman right before halftime. Throughout the first half, Hiawatha had nearly no shots on goal and held a weak defensive back line, allowing the Spartans to capitalize on it. The second half started with a goal from ninth-grader Phoebe Gottlieb, sealing the game. Later in the second half, goals were added from junior Maggie Sampsell Jones and senior Jane Duback to finish off the game with the score of 6-0 and a win for the Spartans.
“It went extremely well. I had a pretty weird goal. I basically took out the goalie while finishing it, but it was a great game overall,” Duback said. “We’re very proud of the team and were very excited to continue into sections.”
The girls will return to the state championship on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. to play against St. Cloud Cathedral for the class A quarter finals. The game will be held at Spring Lake Park High School.
