Highland girls soccer program turns corner with winning record, playoff success
The 2024 season started and ended with major strides in progress and a little playoff success for a Highland girls soccer team that has struggled in recent years.
An 11-11 season and a win in the Class 2A Regional this spring left Highland coach Daniel Podwojski feeling the Bulldogs are finally beginning to turn the corner toward regular success on the pitch.
“I’m very pleased with how the team performed,” Podwojski. “I think they did amazing and for the past couple of years we’ve been trying to improve, improve and grow and grow and grow and I think we’ve done that and I think that’s evident with us having a .500 season. 11 wins, 11 losses, that’s tremendous growth.”
A 5-2 start over the first three weeks of the season helped Highland get settled in well in the early going of the 2024 campaign.
“That definitely was a good boost of confidence for the girls,” Podwojski said. “It started a realization that the can do it. They can win tough games. They can compete and go out there and show everyone that Highland can compete with anyone and that’s what they proved, I think.”
A four-game losing streak from April 18 to 25 to the likes of Triad, Civic Memorial, Mater Dei, and Mascoutah put the Bulldogs in a brief tailspin, but through the downturn, Podwojski still liked the direction of his club.
“All these were quality teams and we knew that going in and our attitude for those games was to go in, battle and try our best and we looked at how we did in previous seasons against them and we made improvements against all those teams. That’s what our goal was against those teams,” he said.
Highland got back to the .500 mark at 10-10 with a 3-0 victory at Metro East Lutheran on May 7 in the regular season finale. The win gave the Bulldogs a boost heading into the postseason.
“After any kind of series of losses, coming in and getting a win against quality teams helps us get back to the mindset we need to be into whatever games we had coming up whether we have another tough conference game or whether it’s the postseason,” Podwojski said.
On May 14, Highland broke a seven-year postseason drought, thanks to a 3-0 shutout win over Centralia in a regional semifinal at Triad High School.
It was a huge day for the team.
“It was the first playoff win in more than five years and we went in with the mindset that we wanted to get a playoff win and wanted to go out and do that and get to the next stage,” Podwojski said. “That win was a great feeling for the team. They all came off the pitch with smiles and confidence and everything you want to see in your team.”
Highland had its brief playoff run stopped by a 4-0 loss to Triad three days later in the Class 2A regional championship game at Triad.
“I think we went in and held our own for as long as we could and we’re proud of how we competed against them,” Podwojski said
Podwojski credited the contributions and leadership of junior forward Peyton Frey, junior goalie Sophia Fleming, junior Peyton Beard, junior Lola Schlarman and senior Mackenzie Davis with keeping the club on task and moving forward.
“We have great team leadership within our upperclassmen, so players like Frey, Fleming, Beard, Schlarman, that entire group with MacKenzie Davis, our senior, they showed what it meant to be a student-athlete,” he said.
Only Davis will be lost to graduation as the rest of the roster is expected to return next spring.
“That will be my fourth year with the club, so with the senior class that started as freshmen,” he said. “I’m excited that we have our team coming back and we will have an experienced team and we’re looking forward to another season of growth.”