As senior varsity soccer player Paige Klackner sprints down the field and gains possession of the ball, she frantically looks around for open players. She quickly decides her next move and sends the ball to another team mate. With fierce determination, she knows her team can win the game. She observes the competition and braces herself for the next play.

“Howell is a tough school to play against and it’s so much more competitive with them being our sister school, but I have no doubt we can beat them,” JV Soccer Coach, Zachary Fettig said.              

Luckily, Coach Fettig was right. On Tuesday, April 12, FHN girl’s varsity soccer played against FHHS and beat them 1-0. With plenty of training and hard work, the girls came to the match fully prepared. Howell has notoriously been a big rival for FHN in all supports, so the team definitely gave it their all against them.

“We played really well and dominated with ball control,” senior varsity goalie Emily Rish said. “This was one of our better games, and I’m really happy we won.”

So far, both varsity teams have had a pretty good record for their seasons. Players for FHN have been working on building their team chemistry and creating more scoring opportunities. The team continues to practice every day after school to keep up with conditioning and strength.

“After we lost to Central, we were pretty angry and definitely ready to make a comeback against our other biggest rival,” Klackner said.

Their next matches are April 14 at FZW and April 19 at Troy. The coaches and girls hope to continue capitalizing games for the rest of the season to return to state again.

“We really want students and staff to come help cheer us on and help us get to state again this year, I think we’re going to have a strong season.” Klackner said.