On Feb. 25, the grind of Girls Soccer officially started with the process of tryouts, followed by the beginning of the season. The team expects to start out the same way as they do every year — strong right off the bat. With the Sectional Finals as a desired destination for the team, a place they have never been to, winning is crucial.

Wednesday Mar. 13, the girls played Wauconda, a team that has knocked them out of the playoffs for three straight years.

It was the first game of the year, and according to senior Julia Neary, the team was looking for a chance to redeem themselves and not lose to Wauconda for the first time in three seasons.

“It’s a chance for redemption”, Neary said. “We are all very frustrated that we have been losing to this team.”

Neary noted that their overall record over the past three seasons against Wauconda was 0-5.

The final score of the game was 0-0.

Though nobody scored, the Cougars moved the ball well and created some nice opportunities to score.

“It was a pretty good feeling knowing that we did not lose to one of our toughest opponents, and that was our first game, so that just proves that we are going to get a lot better throughout the season,” Jessie Biede (10) said.

The mental obstacles and tests the players receive set the stage for the season. According to Coach Mike McCaulou, his biggest expectation is that the team works hard. He said that he prides himself on having one of the hardest working programs in the area.

“We can’t take our feet off the gas at all this season,” McCaulou said.

Conditioning is one of the major mental obstacles that McCaulou makes his team face in the beginning to prepare them for the long season.

Ryan Schofield (12) believes that the conditioning for the soccer program is like no other.

“We run the mile and the pyramid,” Schofield said. “There’s a lot more testing for the conditioning. If you miss any laps, you have to run 18-42 seconds.”

The pyramid run is a run based off a 7:20 pace where you run one lap around the track, then two, then three, then four, then back down. Each lap must be completed within a certain time, or there is punishment that the player must serve before the first game.

The punishment is 18-42s. This is where the player must run down the field in 18 seconds and get back to the other side in 42 seconds. For every lap that a player misses in the pyramid run, she must complete a 18-42. If they aren’t made up by the first game, the player will not be able to play.

From freshmen to seniors, McCaulou expects hard work and determination from every one of his players. He said he wants the underclassman to work extremely hard to fight for their time, which will trigger the upperclassman to work harder so they don’t lose their spots. His goal is to create higher intensity and work ethic throughout the program.