Dragons want "one more day"
May 20—Several seniors on the Mid-Buchanan girls soccer team have far exceeded expectations set forth when they joined the program as freshman.
When the program started in 2021, the inaugural season served as anything but a mirage as to what the team was able to accomplish in the years to come. The team went 11-7 that year before falling to Bishop LeBlond in the district championship. From then on, the program has been to a district championship game, claiming one title and a fourth place finish in Class 1 in 2022. Seniors Liv Moeckli and Emily Parrott have served as two of the several pioneer players of the program's inception. As they prepare for their fourth consecutive district championship game on Tuesday, the two just want to extend their final season for as long as they can.
"Any day could be our last and we just gotta keep pushing ourselves so we can have one more day," Parrott said.
The Dragons will face top-seeded Summit Christian for the Class 1 District 4 championship on their home field on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. Moeckli said she's grateful they don't have to play Bishop LeBlond for the district title. The Dragons lost to Bishop LeBlond in the district title game in 2023 and 2021. Even though the Golden Eagles are competing in Class 2 this time around, Summit Christian is no slouch and have proven to be a formidable opponent as they haven't allowed a goal to an opponent in almost three weeks. Head coach Danielle Beers knows what the Dragons are up against come Tuesday.
"I think they're going to be very aggressive and be good in the air, and so we're going to have to make sure we just leave that fear of going up for a battle behind us and be fearless," Beers said.
2024 has been a year of ebbs and flows for Mid-Buch. A stacked schedule in the beginning of the season saw the Dragons get off to a 3-9 start, but eventually use that advantage of having played good competition turn into an 11-3 stretch heading into Tuesday's district title.
"I think that a lot of it was we definitely ironed some things out, and we figured out what wasn't working and we kind of just joined together more," Moeckli said. "We had a tough schedule. It was pretty difficult and we've had a few injuries, so we didn't always have the same people on the field."
Now fully healthy, the Dragons will go into Tuesday's Class 1 District 4 title game at full strength against the Eagles to try and capture their first district championship since 2022.
Jacob Meikel can be reached at jacob.meikel@newspressnow.com.
Follow him on Twitter @NPNowMeikel.
