After a heartbreaking finish in last year’s Regional Championship game and the departures of multiple Division One athletes, a new bulldogs team lead by a core group of seniors and young and emerging sophomores and juniors have come together with one goal in mind for this years team, the state championship.

In recent years Varsity Soccer head coach Haroot Hakopian has garnered accolades that have included regional and divisional championships as well as placements in the USA todays national rankings and a bevy of All-Met players, Hakopian has his eye on the elusive state championship that balances a nucleus of key returning players along with first year varsity players.

“We have such a high level competitive team that are goal is always the same, win the state championship.” Hakopian said.

Hakopians squad for this year is led by key senior captains Molly Olcott, Grace Gage and Bergan Babrowicz, who played key roles in last year’s run to the regional finals game.

“We have Seniors who have laid a foundation for this year that has brought us closer this year through each and every game.” sophomore Forward Grace Whitman said.

For the Lady Bulldogs, they believe both their strong off the field beliefs and attitude will be a hallmark in their style of play this year.

“We work hard from the minute the whistle is blown,” sophomore defender Claire Quigley said, “we want to be relentless in our ball pressure and attack you every second of the game.”  

While in past years the girls soccer team has coasted through the regular season with undefeated regular season records ultimately to be upset in the playoffs this year’s team started with some adversity in a hard fought loss to Wotton 2-0, but responded in their next game with a 7-0 win against Einstein.

“As difficult as it is to do, we try to keep the atmosphere the same after a win or a loss,” Hakopian said. “Each game is an opportunity to evaluate what we did well and what we need to improve regardless of the outcome.”

In addition to the core group of seniors who have experienced the highs and lows of a varsity sports season the team has been infused with new blood including Junior attacker Eden Max who scored two goals in her debut for the soccer team and Claire Quigley a stellar defender who has stepped in to help anchor along with Lucy Wardock, Bergan Babrowicz, and Molly Olcott anchor the bulldogs backline this year.

“This is probably the closest group of girls I have been with,” said junior midfielder Jane Olcott, “ we have all bought into what is expected of us both on and off the field.”

In the last few years amid constantly changing rosters due to graduations and a variety of challenges Hakopian has maintained success, but this has not kept him complacent as this year he believes the difference in finally winning the state championship is himself.

“Just like I expect the girls to constantly evaluate their performance and improve, I must do the same,” Hakopian said. “My coaching style has not changed but I have focused on making myself a part of the evaluation process after each game.”

If the Bulldogs want to reach heights that have eluded them in years past a notoriously strong bond that is manifested in the team’s many spirit days before games and outings outside of practice along with its strong commitment to its core values that will take it to a place no lady bulldogs team is the past decade has gone.

“With our core values and strong foundation the sky’s the limit.” sophomore midfielder Katie Stanish said.