By Josh Baker
Correspondent
WEST ORANGE, NJ – Despite the fact that there is still plenty of summer vacation left, the West Orange High School girls soccer team has already begun preparations for the upcoming season this fall.
WOHS ended last season with a 19-1-2 record, winning the Essex County Tournament and North 1, Group 4 state sectional tournament titles each for the first time ever. The Mountaineers enjoyed a remarkable 39-game unbeaten streak, dating to the 2017 season. The streak ended with the tough 2-0 loss to Bridgewater-Raritan in the NJSIAA Group 4 state semifinal to end the season.
Rising senior midfielder Natalie Nevins scored 17 goals and had 21 assists en route to being named First Team All-State, while graduated defender Nyah Harper scored 10 goals and was named Second Team All-State last season.
The team was hit hard by graduation, saying good-bye to seven seniors. “There will be a lot of girls trying to fill starting spots,” WOHS head coach Sean Devore said. “We’ll be working with the girls to learn to play together, as many of them will be new to the varsity level.”
The captains of the team will be Nevins, and rising seniors Giovanna Winning and Kiara Machuca. Nevins has already committed to St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pa.
“I am looking forward to the opportunity to lead this team and take on even more responsibility than I have in my past previous years,” Nevins said. “In addition, I am looking forward to an enjoyable final season at West Orange High School, hopefully yet another year of wins, titles and success.
“Although there is an abundance of things that I appreciate when it comes to being a member of this soccer program, the thing that I appreciate the most about playing on this team is the family environment and atmosphere I get to be a part of, day in and day out,” Nevins continued. “Along with the amazing coaches who constantly embrace the family atmosphere, the girls on this team love and protect each other like no other high school team in the entire state. We are more than just teammates; we are sisters, and ultimately that love and devotion that we have to each other allows us to be special, and ultimately is what I appreciate most about playing on this team.”
The team practices two nights a week: Tuesdays from 7:30 to 9 p.m. and Wednesdays from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
“We’ll work about half the practice on technical work and the other half we have the girls play small-sided,” Devore said. “We’ll add a bit of fitness as well.”
The team starts every practice with some passing, followed respectively by jogging and stretching, circuits (rotating drills including dribbling, speed, and agility), and a scrimmage.
“When the season starts, that’s when we split up the defenders and attackers,” rising senior Olivia Callendar said. “When that time comes, the defenders focus on clearing the ball, heading the ball, chasing down, while the attackers rehearse possessing and shooting the ball.”
The team also will put a heavy focus on maintaining its success from the previous two seasons, as well as making sure it is one of the top teams in Essex County and New Jersey.
“We want to compete to win the conference, county, and sectional championships again,” Nevins said. “Individually I just want to do whatever it takes to help the team be successful, whether that is scoring more goals, assisting more goals, or playing more defensively.”
Nevins also wants to ease the transition for the freshmen and other new starters on varsity.
The WOHS season starts Thursday, Sept. 5 at home against Montclair at 4 p.m.
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