Leadership Key to Successful Girls' Soccer Season

Sara Sweeten

Hayara Cardosa

By Jacob Tobey, staff reporter

“Rebuilding” was a term that was going to be used a lot around the Girls Varsity Team this past season, but instead they quickly turned a “rebuilding” season into a season of excitement and surprise.  If you were the coach of a team that lost eight starters, nine seniors overall that previous year, wouldn’t you be thinking, “Rebuilding?”  That’s just what coach Steve Austin was thinking as he entered the 2012 campaign.  But he was way off and that’s what you’ve got to love about sports: There are tons of things that will surprise you and make you think, “Wow.”  The Storm had seven Cape and Island League All Stars on the team: Hayara Cardoso, Dorothy Paul, Maggie Paul, Lindsey Allin, Brittany Gayton and Kaleigh Fallon.

With nine seniors leaving after the 2011 season, the seniors of 2012 had to step up big in the leadership department, especially the two captains Hayara Cardoso and Sara Sweeten. Starting forward Cardoso had an excellent year in which she scored 11 goals.  She was a leader on and off the field.  Every game Cardoso tried to keep the team’s heads in the game and tried to pump them up by giving pep talks during the pregame and halftime.  She was a very good captain and also one of the more skilled players on the field.  Her other captain, Sweeten was a leader by example as well.  “As seniors and captains, we knew that as the leaders of the team, it was most important to lead by example. We wanted the new players to feel welcome and involved.”  Brittany Gayton was the leading scorer on the team with 13 goals this season.  Gayton and Cardoso were feared by other teams as they were a talented forward combo.  Sweeten, who led by example, had a very good season playing the field.  She was a midfielder and helped distribute the ball to the forwards and also got back on defense and stood her ground. Having two really good captains on this team really helped the young players grow and mature, and Cardoso and Sweeten helped make each and every player better.  The two captains wanted the team to bond together.  “We had a movie.  But most importantly, we built our relationships on the field in games and at practice,” said Sweeten.  She was rewarded with her work on the field with the MVP award.   

        The team started off the season a little slow with a couple blowout losses to Pope John Paul II and Nantucket.  In their first 5 games, they started out 1-3-1.  That’s not what they planned on doing.  This record woke them up and this is when they started playing better.   They Storm in another stretch of the season went 2-2-2.  Playing much better on offense and defense, the Storm knew that their hopes for making the tournament could be filed.  They then found themselves in the State Tournament and ready to make a solid playoff run.  They played Cape Cod Academy at home and they lost 1-0.  Coach Austin had some thoughts on the game, “Against Cape Cod Academy we had early chances to score a goal. Their keeper had a great game and we missed several good chances. They defended our forwards well and we probably should have dropped more balls back to the midfielders for shots from farther out.” CCA scored with only about eight minutes left in the game and the Sturgis could not make a comeback.

Hayara Cardoso commented on the chemistry of the team throughout the season, “Our chemistry became stronger throughout the season. We got better at communicating on and off the field and working collaboratively with each other. The chemistry between the central mids (kaleigh and Sara) and the forwards (Brittany and me) were really strong and beneficial.”  Both Captains gave an A- for their season grades of the team/season.  The Storm really played every game with an attitude that they could win every time.  Both captains are seniors and were starters on this team.  There are big shoes to fill for whoever steps up into those positions.  “My hope is that we will once again have a good chance to qualify for the tournament and this time win at least one game,” says Coach Austin.  With the talent the Storm still has this should be a realistic goal for the girls.

        There will be a change in leadership next season.  Brittany Gayton and Kaleigh Fallon will be the new captains.  The Sportsmanship award went to Lindsey Allin who showed how to be a very humble player who had very good sportsmanship toward opposing players and the referees.  The Most Improved Player award went to Dorrie Paul.  She really worked on her skills throughout the season and you could see the effects of that hard work.  The Coaches Award went to the captains of 2013: Brittany Gayton and Kaleigh Fallon.  As I said before this season was full of surprises and will never be forgotten by the 2012 Sturgis Storm Girls Varsity soccer team.