The last winning season for the Highland Huskies came in the 2014-15 season when they eclipsed 11 wins. Since then, Highland has won just eight games, and only one in the last two seasons.

Last season, Highland opened their season against the Washington Demons, losing 14-0. This season opener was no different.

The Washington Demons opened up the scoring immediately within the first three minutes of play, eventually winning 10-0 by mercy rule with 21.34 minutes left in the second half.

For almost the entirety of the first half, play was dominated by the Demons as they stayed in offensive mode, consistently putting pressure on the Huskies.

Junior, Jackson Keller, was a bright spot for the Huskies and a reason the mercy rule did not come into play in the first half. Keller made twelve saves off of 22 shots on goal from the demons. The demons had 40 shots in total, signaling their complete dictation of play.

This game was a tale of two halves. In the first 23 minutes, Washington scored just two goals. But in the last 17 minutes of the first half, Washington scored six goals, hitting Highland in waves. Highland was losing its defensive grip.

In the second half, it took Washington nearly 20 minutes to score the two final goals. Highland played much better defensively and even got some breakaway chances against the Demons.

“A lot of mental mistakes that cost us early, which has kind of been our M.O.,” Highland’s head coach, Dylan Stewart, said. “We’re a second half team, [we need to] find a way to minimize some of those mistakes and some of those easy goals [in the first half].”

The weather did play a factor in this season opener. The wind was whipping, making itself audibly known. The Huskies play in these conditions in practice but when it comes to game time, it is hard to prepare for a ball that sailed out of bounds or high above the net erratically.  

Communication was a big reason for the Highland loss in Stewart’s eyes. Stewart wants to see the young team vastly improve their communication throughout the season. A team that doesn’t communicate properly is a team that makes too many mistakes.

“We didn’t talk to each other, we didn’t really help our teammates out in [certain] situations,” Stewart said. “We’re still a pretty young team, not a lot of soccer experience. So, obviously, our touch wasn’t where it should have been for most of the game.”

Even in losses, Stewart can see positives to draw from.

“A couple of kids surprised me with their effort, [sophomore] Landon Bell looked good today,” Stewart said. “It was a huge trial by fire. Washington is a good team.”

With a lot of seniors exiting the program last season, it is up to the underclassmen to be leaders, gaining experience and eventually becoming the heart of the team. Junior, Stella Slaymaker, who has been in the program for three years, was voted the captain for this season. Sadly, the team’s only senior and second captain, Carlos Valenzuela, is injured and missed this game, thus a need for other teammates to step up and fill the senior-less void.

“Our sophomore class is our biggest class. That’s where our leaderships got to come from,” Stewart said. “They’re kind of the future of this. So, looking for any kid to step up.”

Highland v. Sigourney 4/3

Highland’s second game of the season was against the Sigourney Cobras at home. Sigourney was the team’s only win a year ago and they played much tighter here against the Cobras, still losing 5-0.

The Huskies are now 0-2, yet have seen improvement from game one to game two.

The Huskies managed to have four shots on goal. Out of the eight shots on goal they saw, junior goaltender, Jackson Keller, made three saves, helping prevent another mercy rule.

Leading goal scorer for Sigourney was senior, Ty Shafranek, with one goal on two shots on goal. Junior, Carter Wyatt, led in assists with one.

Highland’s next game will be on Thursday, Apr. 6 at 5 P.M. against the WACO Warriors, at home. Another chance to find that its first victory of the season.