Sophomore Emma Duncan knows she and her teammates can’t get caught up in numbers.

The Warrenton girls soccer program wants to focus on progression and moving forward. If they can accomplish this, their record from this past season will become a distant memory. 

“Attitude is one of the most important things in any sport, especially [for girls],” Duncan said. “Knowing this season we weren't going to have an easy [go] most games and ending them knowing we tried our best and we’re positive made them so much easier. We worked together and had great attitudes this year on and off the field.” 

New head coach Courtney Nenninger said that it was easy to see the improvements the girls made during games.

Nenninger said she could see the Warriors buying in more and more with each passing contest.

The main focus this season was to be more competitive and increase commitment. 

“Overall, we met our goal this year,” Nenninger said. “It's really hard to look at the record and know of any progress made, but we definitely made some strides.”

Some hurdles the team faced were injuries, sickness, inexperience and some girls competing as dual sport athletes. 

Nenninger said that one visible area of growth has been on the backline. She was proud of the work put in by junior goalkeeper Haley Rausch, who made 106 saves in eight games. 

“She had very little experience [in goal prior to this season],” Nenninger said. “She really stepped up.”

Nenninger noted that much like Rausch, the entirety of the Warrenton girls soccer team took a businesslike approach day after day, learning how to build a program from the program’s new coaching staff.

Nenninger said that a determined work ethic will soon pay off on both the stats sheet and the team’s overall record. 

“Having such a group made for an enjoyable season and gave us a lot to look forward to for future seasons,” Nenninger said. “It will be a few years' process, but we hope to keep as many players as we can so we can build off what we started this season.” 

Duncan said that she’s fully invested in Nenninger’s plan and can’t wait to put in the necessary work to raise the overall profile of the program.

“I'm glad everyone stuck with it, continued to show up, and created great friendships,” Duncan said. “[I want to thank] my coaches for always seeing the potential in all of us and staying absolutely positive. I cannot wait to see how far our program goes.”