The Alden Girl’s Varsity Soccer team played a tough game and emerged victorious 4-3 against Mount St. Mary Academy in non-league competition on Wednesday, September 16th. It was their annual under the lights game on the football field as well as the Senior Night, celebrating the accomplishments of the senior players. The game kicked off to a rough start with Mount St. Mary’s Ruth Riggie scoring first, but Alden responded quickly with a goal by Katie Hummel at the 32 yard line, assisted by Jenna Rutowski. After more battle, Mt. St. Mary’s senior Leah Giles scored on Alden, making the score 2-1. But our girls were quick to act and Sara O’Connor scored at ’54, tying up the game at 2-2. Mt. St. Mary’s pulled ahead again to the dismay of the Alden crowd with a goal by Paige Freer, assisted by Ruth Riggie, bringing up the score to 3-2. Alden girls, determined to win, scored two goals in the last ten minutes, the first of which by Katie Hummel again assisted by Jenna Rutowski at ’61 and the game-winning goal scored by Kayla Derenda at ’78 with less than two minutes in the game. It was a tough game but Alden girls were relentless and dominated a highly competitive team in an emotional and bittersweet game.

Coach Nguyen, who also teaches physical education at the High School, said she really wanted to make the game special for the senior players. “There were a couple ways that we recognized them for their hard work for the season and their dedication, [with] some of them playing in the program since seventh grade,” she said. The festivities started the week before, when the team decorated t-shirts, with senior players wearing blue and underclassmen wearing white. They also filled out a form with questions including the best times they had in soccer, what they’ve learned, and what their plans are after high school, which was read over the P.A. before the start of the game to introduce each of the nine seniors on the team. At that point each senior received flowers and chocolates, which were provided by the Alden Sports Boosters. Attentive soccer fans who were at the game also might have noticed a poster hung around the football field recognizing each senior. “The seniors started the game and got us off on the right foot when the game started,” Coach Nguyen said, speaking to the reliability and experience of the senior players.  Despite the anticipation for the Senior Night game, Laura Karlnoski, one of the captains alongside Delaney Froebel, said that preparing for the game was not that much different from any other game. “Before every game, [Coach Nguyen] does a really intense focus practice.” Coach Nguyen also commented on the goals for the game. “It goes back to that coaching philosophy of having a good attitude and working hard. I think the result was a good indication that we met those goals.”

So what will coaching be like next year without this group of seniors? “This group of seniors was a really special group. With this being my first year with the varsity program, they helped me a lot… They offer a lot of different things between leadership and their spirit and they really brought the cohesiveness of the entire team together. They’ll definitely be missed but I think their legacy will still live on through the stories of the underclassmen, so they’ll still be there in spirit,” Coach Nguyen said. “We’re very close. We all love each other. Somebody said that the girl’s soccer team is the closest team they’ve ever seen,” said senior defender Vicky Heist. “We have this group message and we all talk to each other constantly and take lots of pictures. We hang out each other before games,” she said, and Laura Karlnoski added, “Our team is really close. We all talk during school, outside of school, and we trust each other on the field, so it helps us.”

Senior players could speak to how bittersweet the game felt. It was a strange realization that they will never play an under the lights game on the football field again. “Senior night was so fun…when you know it’s your last game, it’s exciting, but kind of sad at the same time,” Laura said. “Senior night was kind of sad, because it’s our last year on the football field. It was a good game, though, and we all came together at the end,” added Vicky. “Winning was really nice. It felt really good because we were finally solid as a team. I feel like when we’re constantly under pressure, it works.” And they were certainly under pressure. The Lady Bulldogs found themselves trailing by one to Mount St. Mary’s three times during the game and only got ahead in the last two minutes with the game-winning goal scored by Kayla Derenda.

The goals for the team this year include defeating Tonawanda again. Their 1-0 upset victory last year was the highlight of their season. They’d also like to get farther in Sectional competition than usual. “The past few years we’ve lost the first game… we constantly mess up in Sectionals and we really want to go far this year,” said Vicky. But with this strong work ethic and incredible school spirit, Alden fans should have faith in this team. If anyone can meet their goals, it’s these girls. Good luck Lady Bulldogs!