Soccer Summary

Hongqiao Varsity Boys Soccer 2023

Coach: Rafael Navajas

The season began turbulently with the severe injury of our captain, which added to other important losses. This left the way for a short-numbered but very enthusiastic team with many young and new faces. The first training session focused on understanding the fundamentals of defending, switching of play, balancing, and transitioning. Maintaining a solid defense to base our attack became the pillar of our game philosophy.

In addition to the injuries, more players were out because of the flu, limiting our season before ACAMIS to two games. We finished the first day of ACAMIS with only seven players, without the possibility of changes, and became exhausted after four intense games. We started the second day with another last-minute injury, further limiting our team. We had to win the last round-robin game to make the playoffs. We won and classified fourth, forcing us to play in the semifinals against the strongest team. In a highly even match, we managed to qualify for the finals with an epic victory after overtime and penalties. Winning second place in the tournament is an example of resilience and overcoming adversity: players who fought despite having everything against them, who learned from their mistakes and made the team grow.

Hongqiao Varsity Girls Soccer 2023

Coach: Terri Walsh-Mosher

Our D1 Girls Soccer started off with a few sessions of training and then went directly into matches. Due to last season being cut short because of Covid and lockdowns, we had some returning players and welcomed new players to the roster. The team soon proved how well their skills, communication, and dedication prepared them for their matches by defeating their first opponents on SCIS turf! The training sessions continued, and a close match against SAS proved to be an intense game and helped to prepare the team for the ACAMIS tournament. The team faced the elements of rain, wind and cold, leading undefeated in the preliminary matches! After six games, the SCIS Dragons dominated the field and secured the first-place bracket for the finals against SSIS-Suzhou. After an intense match, with many bumps and bruises, extremely strong offense and defense, our Dragons lost by one goal to a strong team and took home the second-place trophy. A well-deserved finish for a team that worked so well together and supported each other all throughout the tournament. Congratulations to our D1 Girls!