THS varsity soccer team hopes to end season with state tournament run

by John Benson

Going into the current season, Twinsburg High School girls varsity soccer head coach John Garber said his team had three goals.

“One was to compete with a Suburban League championship, which we were fortunate enough to do,” said Garber, who has been coaching the girls soccer team for three years. “Secondly, we want to get back to the district championship. And then last would be eventually to get into the sweet 16.”

As of Oct. 11, the team ranked No. 8 in Division I girls soccer in the state of Ohio with a record of 15-0 (7-0 in Suburban League Conference play), the Twinsburg Tigers, which last year made history as the first Twinsburg High School boys or girls team to make it to a district final, appears on the way to reach its post-season goals.

“I think we can certainly play with anyone,” Garber said. “And if we play our best, we can compete with any girls team in the state. We have a lot of team unity. We have a core group of 23 girls on the varsity program that train hard, that play well together and score a ton of goals.”

So far this season the soccer team has scored 52 goals while only giving up seven in return. Garber said the squad, which graduated 11 seniors last year, tasted competitive post-season play with the idea of returning in 2018.

“We had to replace the vacancies left by the departing seniors, but I think the core groups we had last year were very capable of continuing to play our system, our style of play,” Garber said. “There wasn’t too much of a drop off.

“As far as losing to Walsh Jesuit last year in the district championship game, there were mixed emotions. Some of the players were certainly motivated and frustrated by the loss, but the competitiveness was there, that urgency to try to get back and want to be better. That attitude carried over to the offseason and has really kind of propelled us through the beginning part of this season.”

While Garber said Twinsburg High School has always set high expectations for its varsity girls soccer team, hopes have been raised for the Tigers to annually compete for a Suburban League conference championship and more.

“I think the expectation is to get to this level and be able to continue to build and become one of the more elite teams in the area,” Garber said. “To get to the state semifinals and the state championship, there’s a certain degree of experience that contributes to that type of learning.

“That culture of winning was kind of established last year and has continued into this year. Our girls are playing with a certain degree of confidence.”

Looking ahead to next season, Garber said 13 current seniors will be leaving the team.

“We’ll be graduating a very experienced senior class with some players who have a ton of accolades, but I think hopefully we continue to maintain the same level year in and year out,” Garber said.

 

Featured image photo caption: Twinsburg girls varsity soccer players aim to protect their perfect record at the final regular season game on Saturday, Oct. 13, at Cleveland Heights High School.