Taylor is almost cornered by the opposing team. She sees Ashly open and ready for the ball. Quickly she dribbles it a few feet and finds the perfect path to Ashly. Taylor kicks it but an opponent comes in her way. The ball continues through the legs of the player right to Ashly who scores a goal. Taylor high fives her and runs back to the center for the next play thinking about how great that pass was. She is hot and exhausted from all of the playing. “If only there were extra players to sub in and out, maybe I could get a drink of water,” Taylor thinks imagining the ice cold water that is sitting on the bench.

As the second soccer season in Cannon Falls’ history comes to an end, the players and coaches of the girls soccer team have been worrying that the soccer program would be ending as well. There are twenty-four girls from grades 6th-12th on the only team, not enough for a second team. Fortunately, the concern has faded as the school board recently approved soccer once again. This was a tremendous relief for the coaching staff which includes head coach , Anne Davisson and her assistant coaches, Coach Josh Banks and Coach Laura Rezac.

Although players would like a junior varsity and varsity team, they also like having a big team. “There are so many girls to interact with, so you can get a different experience with each one,” says eleventh grader, Taylor Eddy.

To create a junior varsity team next year, the team of twenty-four will need to recruit about ten more players. They would then have seventeen on each team to sub in and out of the eleven on the field. Since soccer is new to Cannon Falls, Eddy says, “You don’t have a standard to follow. Everybody is at the same level, older girls are at almost the same ability as the younger girls.”“

No matter your skills or ability, everybody gets a chance to play on varsity.

Besides the very fun and exciting soccer games, the team gets together off the field too. Traditionally, the whole team has gotten together at the beginning to watch a soccer movie called Kicking and Screaming which the coaches jokingly quote from all season. At the end of the season the players get together again for a team sleepover at which they give out personal cards and goodies. According to Eddy, “We are all so close and we get along really well. There is not a lot of drama.”

In a perfect third season, Taylor starts with the ball, kicking down the field and dodging the opponents feet as she swerves in and out. She passes it to Madeline who makes an easy goal. Taylor high fives her as Micah takes Taylor’s spot on the field. Taylor runs off, ready for a refreshing drink of water. As she watches her team play she glances to her left and sees the new junior varsity team score a winning goal.