On Nov. 12, the Lady Cavalier Soccer team played against Miami Palmetto Senior High School at Gables’s home field. The girls have been practicing almost everyday during the fall, preparing themselves for the winter. With new additions to the team and new strategies to execute, the girls’ soccer team practically seemed to be brand new. As ir was the team’s first time playing together during a competitive game, the Lady Cavaliers were able to pinpoint their weaknesses and fortify their strengths for the future.

Despite the strong fight they put up, the Lady Cavaliers faced an upsetting 5-0 loss against the Palmetto Panthers. However, there were multiple instances where the Lady Cavaliers were close to scoring offensively. The Lady Cavaliers also showed tremendous potential on the defensive end.

“Now, we know where we have to improve. We are tough, and we will continue to practice in order to dominate during the rest of the season,” senior co-captain Juliana Bonavita said.

In the opening minutes of the match, sophomore Mia Calderon took a hard fall after getting bumped on a play. Calderon was substituted while she took time to recover on the sideline. Within just ten minutes, she was back in the game, ready to give it her all.

Upon her return, the Lady Cavaliers held off Palmetto’s offense during the entire first quarter, keeping both teams scoreless going into the second period. However, before the first half ended, Palmetto’s offense picked up and the Lady Cavaliers could not keep up.

Flowing into the second half, the Lady Cavaliers held the Panthers to just two goals as miscommunication issues on defense proved to be detrimental to their consistency on the field. Regardless, the Lady Cavalier offense could not get it going, and remained scoreless.

During the third period, freshman Julia Denight collided with a player on the opposite team and stepped out of the game with some pain in her side. Gables played junior Karina Leon as her substitute, who played her emergency role as best she could.

Finally in the last quarter, Palmetto was able to overcome the Cavalier defense and score three more goals, taking a five to nothing lead to end the game.

Now that the team sees where they need to improve on, there is no doubt that the Lady Cavaliers will continue to train and grow as individual players and, more importantly, as a team.

“Even though we lost, I think there is still room for greatness and I am looking forward to our next game,” freshman Carla Nunez said.

Fortunately, the Lady Cavaliers bounced back with an 8-0 win against Coral Park High School on Nov. 14 during a rainy match at the Cavalier home field. During the contest, the girls demonstrated their determination to avenge themselves and uplift their teammates, making it evident that they will not back down from any challenge.