This year, the Girls Soccer team set out with three goals: Win 10 games, beat West, and become conference champions. The team achieved all three goals in one, according to Coach Filip Cejovic, “magical” night.
“I have never seen a Niles North team play with such urgency to win the derby game,” Cejovic said. “I have never seen a Niles North team play less scared and with more belief. The girls were rightfully [awarded with] a wonderful result. [The win] surprised many, but not us, who worked every day to make this happen.”
On May 3, for the first time in 10 years, the team won conference. For the first time in 20 years, they beat Niles West. Senior and captain Oriana Youmara had been waiting for this moment for her entire time on the team.
“Oh my God, it was amazing,” Youmara said. “Because I’ve been on this team for 4 years. This is obviously a dream and from the beginning of the season, we were saying, ‘Oh, maybe conference might be too far of a goal.’ But then when we sort of were getting into [the game] we’re like, ‘Oh, we can actually do this.’ And it was amazing.”
Sophomore Leah Jackson sees this game as a pivotal moment for the team.
“Just the fact that like, it’s been 10-11 years since we won conference,” Jackson said. “That’s a big step for Niles North and for Niles North women’s sports.”
This season has been a total game-changer for the girls soccer program, with almost an entirely new coaching staff and a new team attitude. This year’s team is more competitive than ever, going undefeated in the conference.
“Our culture is a winning culture,” Cejovic said. “We want to win games, not only for ourselves, but we want to win games for our school, and we want to win games for our community. In the past, I feel that maybe we weren’t we didn’t we weren’t so willing to compete.”
The team’s cutthroat work ethic has allowed the team to thrive, in a new way than previous years.
“There was this one day we practiced, it was freezing, it was so rainy,” Jackson said. “The weather was so bad. And I think the fact that people just showed up, that’s really different than the past.”
Though the team’s effort played a huge role in the team’s success, the friendships formed within the team had the same impact.
“The main factor of why we are so good and work hard is because nobody’s scared of being judged,” Youmara said. “Everyone’s here with the same goal and everybody truly cares about each other. So when you have this environment, it doesn’t want to make you shy away. Instead, it kind of just makes you want to work even harder.”
The team spends lots of time together, whether it be at practice, games, or bonding events.
“A big word this year for us is family,” senior and captain Maya Garcia said. “We all have each other’s backs. I don’t think there’s one person or two people that don’t get along.”
The team played a hard fight at the regional semi-final on May 15 on the home field, beating Leyden 2-0. The team will face the final regional game on May 18. While the season is close to an end with summer approaching, there’s a bright future ahead with such a young team.
“We are a very young team,” Cejovic said. “This year’s team has made a mark: Niles North is here to compete. Niles North is here to win. When people play Niles North, it will not be ‘Oh, we’re playing Niles North. It’s not going to be a big deal.’ No. It is a big deal. You will have to play well to beat us. The girls want to win. They want to be the best, and I’m happy to help.”
