by Nicholas Casarez| Staff writer

This season was a big one for the Lady Jags soccer team, and everyone knew it from the start. The big question was how would they bounce back from a very successful season where they made it all the way to the state semifinals, in spite of losing much of their top talent.

The Lady Jags have given the doubters a resounding response, and are making sure that any doubts about their skill this season were unwarranted and baseless. The team has managed to secure a top four spot in the district and they’ve been bouncing around the top five of the city rankings throughout the season.

They’re coming off a heart-breaking 2-1 loss to Reagan and plan to round out the first half of district play against Lee on Friday. The loss does hurt the Lady Jags, but with wins over Churchill and Roosevelt, as well as a hard-fought tie with powerhouse MacArthur, the Jags look solid as they prepare to begin their second cycle of district games, with no doubt that they’ll look to get revenge on Reagan next time around in the annual Fincke Cup.

“It was a game we shouldn’t have lost, we’re the better team we just didn’t come out and show it when we had to,” junior Madi Gordon said.

Many of the girls left the game disappointed, not just with the results, but with themselves.

“We didn’t have the heart that we normally have, it was really uncharacteristic of us, and that’s why we lost,” junior Alyssa Clark said.

The team is working hard to put the loss in their rear view mirror and carry on the season with a lot of success.

“We really want to go undefeated the second round of games in districts, especially since we were only one game away this time,” junior Shea Dinsmore said.

The prospect of a near undefeated district record and a playoff berth have the Lady Jags fired up and ready to go.

“We want to go out and win the rest of our games, make it to playoffs and go deep into the post season. We’re out for blood,” Clark said.