The Beaver Area High School girls soccer team is led by veteran head coach Nick Crivelli and assistant coach Courtney Bauder. The girls prepared for a tough season by having practices every weekday with occasional lifts and stretches.

However, there is no JV team for girls soccer this season due to the lack of players. The roster currently sits at 25 girls.

The team plays a total of 17 games and their record at the time of writing is 3-3-1. Coach Bauder and sophomore Mackenzie Dobronz both state that their toughest competitors this year will be Quaker Valley and Avonworth.

Despite a reduced roster, their goal as a team is to make the playoffs and additionally win the first round game.

Coach Bauder has been coaching soccer for 15 years and played from ages 12 to 18 years old. She played club soccer before attending a D1 college, Stephen F. Austin in Texas.

Coach Bauder said, “Something the team needs to work on is when things are hard, to push through and improve their communication. A strength of the team is that they’re all close to each other even outside of soccer, and their speed gives them an advantage.”

Coach Bauder’s favorite part of coaching is winning and succeeding off of a coaching moment. Even though she feels she can be harsh, she enjoys following her criticism with a compliment of something the player did positively.

Coach Bauder said, “The biggest challenges my athletes are faced with is social media and the mental aspect of the sport. I think that managing the late games can be tough as well because we will get home from games late and [players] still need to manage their school work and the amount of sleep they get for the next day of school.”

Dobronz explained that she has been playing soccer for about seven years and plans to continue throughout high school. Her favorite part of soccer is the friendships she’s made with her teammates.

Dobronz stated, “I think I need to work on growing as a player in the mental aspect, and something the team needs to work on is getting back up after a hard loss.”

Dobronz says that a strength of hers is her aggression on the field but admits her weakness is communication. She could be better at communicating with her teammates and her coaches.

Dobronz said, “Something athletes, including me, are challenged with daily is mental struggles. Mental health can be a major obstacle keeping players from reaching their full potential.”

The Bobcats next take on Quaker Valley at Quaker Valley today. Check the next ECHO for more soccer coverage.