Last Thursday, the Lady Raider soccer team won the 4A Division II State Championship. This is a big accomplishment for the team, Randall and the Texas Panhandle as a whole, especially since no girls soccer team in the Texas Panhandle has ever won a state championship.
“The game is almost a blur,” soccer coach Whitney Bernard said. “I was feeling all of the emotions, but mainly anxiety. I felt like we were playing very good, especially our defense, and I feel like the girls were giving it every single thing that they had. They are the true rockstars, playing in the heat, on the turf, going into overtime and then into PKs, and they all did it with such positivity and grace.”
The regulation time of the game against Wimberley ended in a tie at 2-2, and then no team scored in the 10-minute overtime halves. Since it was still a tie, the game was decided with penalty kicks. Junior Kyleigh McHugh kicked the winning goal, and she explained it as a surreal moment in her life.
“I couldn’t believe I had scored,” McHugh said. “Ever since I started playing soccer, I have told my mom that the one thing I want to accomplish is winning a state championship. As soon as I saw the ball go over the goal line, I fulfilled a childhood dream of mine.”
The team ended the season with a 23-5-1 record. The girls continued to stay motivated throughout the season to make it to state, despite a win or a loss.
“With this group of girls, I did not have to do much to keep them focused or motivated,” Bernard said. “They are such an amazing group, and they stayed positive with one goal in mind all year –winning state. When it started to get down to where this goal was within reach, that we could make it happen, they continued to keep each other motivated with their eyes focused on the prize.”
Even though the girls wanted to win, there were challenging parts of the game as well.
“A challenge that we all faced was how hot it was during the game,” senior Ryann Davis said. “Trying to push through 100 minutes of soccer in the heat since we went into overtime was not very fun. It was also a lot of pressure when we had to start kicking PKs that would determine if we won or lost.”
Winning this title meant a lot to everyone on the team, but especially Coach Bernard.
“Personally, it means the world to me,” Bernard said. “This is the last year that my two daughters will have the chance to play together, so for us to not only make it to the final and win, but for us to all get to experience that together, is completely priceless. I truly have no words to express just how much it all means to me. I am a very, very proud mom and coach.”
The team will continue working hard and go for the state title once again.
“Our goal moving forward is to get ready to compete again next year,” Bernard said. “We will take some time to let this year continue to soak in and celebrate, but then we will be right back to work to defend our title.”
