Hampton girls soccer team on upswing

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, September 24, 2017 | 11:25 PM

The Hampton girls soccer team returned a ton of talent from its first playoff appearance in five years last season.

But coach Bill Paholich and the rest of the team occasionally are reminded its young talent needs time to mature.

The team struggled to start the season, and it showed in the win column, as the Talbots dropped their first three games. But Hampton has rebounded, taking three of its past five games. More importantly, all three of those were section wins.

“We have a couple players having good seasons so far, but we are struggling to find our defensive footing at times,” Paholich said. “We're going through some rough patches and giving up some goals.”

As of last week, the team had given up three or more goals in five of its nine games. But there's plenty to look forward to.

The team stands 3-6 overall. However, Hampton's 3-1 section record at the end of last week had the team two games ahead of the rest of its competition for a playoff spot and tied Franklin Regional for second in the section.

Paholich attributes some of the inconsistencies to growing pains.

“We still have a young team,” Paholich said. “A lot of underclassmen are starting, and as they get more comfortable and confident … some of them are asking when they come off the field, ‘is that OK?' They don't have the confidence yet to be their own critic, or say, ‘I played well out there.' ”

Senior captain Hannah Syglowski agrees with that sentiment and thinks the team is starting to jell.

“The scrimmages and first three games in, we were just trying to figure out the formations, substitutions and who we were playing with. It was mostly a learning curve. But now we are hitting our stride and figuring things out.”

Sophomore forward Logan Nicklas seems to already have hit hers. She leads the team with nine goals, including two overtime winners in a row, both in section games against Indiana and Knoch. Syglowski said she liked the mental toughness the team showed in those victories.

“Sometimes the touch isn't there or we're not playing cohesively as a team in that moment,” Syglowski said. “But we always find a way to get it together, get our minds in the right spot and bring the win home.”

While the defense has struggled at times to find its footing, the midfield has depth. Junior Courtney Coholich is enjoying a fine season, as expected. Paholich said she likes the contributions of sophomores Ali Resch and Rylee Obringer off the bench, as well.

Still, a team returning so many starters from a playoff campaign just a year ago expects more and is hoping more of it comes before the postseason rolls around.

“Playoffs is a goal in our mind, but it's not just playoffs,” Syglowski said. “It's about getting to the playoffs, succeeding and potentially winning it all. That's where our mind is at right now. It's about how much better we can do in the playoffs.”

Devon Moore is a freelance writer.

Tags: Hampton