Solon's girls soccer team starts season on the right foot with a win over Regina

Kicking off the 2023 Iowa high school girls soccer season, Solon defeated the Regina Regals in a high-scoring affair, 4-2 on Monday.

Amanda Paulson, the coach for the Spartans, said the win was made even better because they were able to do it in front of their home fans.

"It is always good to get the team out on a high note to start the season," Paulson said. "Especially when you can do it at home."

It did not take long for the first goal of the new campaign to be scored. Just 30 seconds into the first half, Spartans' sophomore Rose McAtee scored the 13th goal of her young career.

27 minutes later, Regina retorted with a goal of their own. Senior Grace Gaarde was responsible for the score which wound up being her first of the night.

However, Solon didn't allow momentum to stay with the Regals for long as they went on to score two more goals in quick succession.

Senior Georgia Havlicek got the first of the pair and less than two minutes later, her teammate, senior Morgan Link, got one of her own to take the 3-1 lead.

Her scoring play will not be one that Havlicek will soon forget as it was her first goal varsity goal in nearly two years.

"It had been a long time since I scored," Havlicek said. "I like that feeling of adrenaline that I got afterward. It was finally nice to put some points on the board."

Paulson said that despite the two-goal advantage at the break, the Spartans had a lot more work to do before they could secure the victory.

"Going into the second half with a two-goal lead is always a dangerous place to be in," Paulson said. "I think our girls need to realize that and the pressure that this is going to come at them in the second half. So, the first five to 10 minutes were a little rough, but overall, they did good."

While the second half was not as fast-paced as the first, Solon was still able to keep Regina from chipping away at their lead.

At the 26:46 mark, sophomore Rose McAtee got her second goal of the night.

That score marked the first time since 2012 that the Spartans found the back of the net four times against the Regals.

Eight minutes later, Regina's dry spell came to an end after Gaarde tallied her second goal of the night.

While the direction of the game was not what Regals' coach Ann Larew was hoping for, she said that it was good to see that Gaarde was still her dominant self.

"She is a leader for the team," Larew said. "She not only leads vocally, but she totally leads by example. She is someone who we get a lot of goal production from but also makes her teammates better. It is huge having her."

Though Solon will enjoy the victory, Havlicek said that they can still stand to get better in a couple of areas.

"We are just going to keep focusing on getting better and working as a team," Havlicek said. "We have some work to do with connecting, especially on those set pieces. Plus, communication is something that you can always improve on. Other than that, we just have to stick together and keep our team atmosphere positive."

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Solon's girls soccer team opens their season with a win over Regina