Hudson girls soccer pays tribute to seniors as hot start continues
While everyone raves about the young talent, there’s no mistake that the earmarks of success for a red-hot Hudson girls soccer program have surfaced through tireless work, spirit, and flexibility of a small, but special senior class.
Off to one of its finest starts in history, Hudson (8-1-1) honored the seniors on Senior Night Sept. 16 in a 7-0 non-league win over Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin.
“These seniors have been great servants for the program and their leadership this year and has led to one of the best starts we’ve had across the program,” said head coach Caleb Fortune.
“Their fingerprint is across the program as they have volunteered to help all three teams (varsity, varsity B and junior varsity) when there have been injuries or players unavailable,” he added.
The seniors include Ella Choi, Renna Eimer, Kylianne Durachinsky, Liv Thomas and Kaylei Smith.
“As we strive for high standards their contribution has helped improve the development of the program,” said Fortune.
While the offense exploded against NDCL, the defense and the goalkeepers notched a big shutout.
Fortune talked of the seniors and their presence on and off the field.
“Rising from varsity B last year to a starting varsity captain was a big jump, but Ella Choi has handled it so well,” said the coach. “Her leadership has been a key contributor to this year’s success and her level on the field has been excellent; learning a new position and being part of a strong defense.”
“Renna Eimer - her contribution to the program as a goal keeper cannot be understated,” declared Fortune. “She has played an immense amount of minutes across the program since her first day and has fought for Hudson in so many different circumstances. Extremely humble and hard-working, Renna brings the level up in training and is an inspiration.”
“Kylianne Durachinsky has always given everything whenever she has set foot on the field,” offered Fortune. “Kyli is someone who actually embodies hard work and doesn’t know what it’s like to do something half-hearted. She has developed each year and has scored a ton of goals this year and has played a very important role of the growth of the program, and contributing to those around her.”
“Liv Thomas is an ideal teammate and unsung hero,” stressed Fortune. “She sets a good example of what we look for in a player at Hudson – always has a positive attitude, encouraging to others and has played on different teams and in different positions, but has always adapted and never complained.”
“Kaylei Smith has been a key defender and is another one who has worked up and down the program helping everyone out,” said Fortune. “She has seen action at all levels and her trademark is having finished playing being in a state of exhaustion having given everything. She has had to stick through a lot and her mental resilience has enabled her to achieve what she has, having made the program a better place.”
Exploding for three goals against NDCL was junior Peyton Pierce while sophomore Ava Bell netted a pair of tallies.
Junior Natalie Muni also scored as did sophomore Maya Lake.
In the latest league play, Hudson won 5-1 at Wadsworth Sept. 13 to move to 2-1 in the rugged Suburban League National Conference.
Five different players scored with tallies from Lake, Bell, freshman Elliana Durachinsky, sophomore Chloe Bigham, and Pierce. Muni, Lake, and Bell had one assist.
Hudson recently handed Revere its first loss of the season at the time in a huge 5-1 non-league home victory.
Lake had two goals, Bell had a score and an assist while sophomore Chloe Yanoff and Elliana Durachinsky each had a goal. Pierce and freshman Abby Filipovitz added a feed.
Fortune liked the firepower from the offense and credited the defense in getting it started.
“We haven’t been shut out in last 26 games (including pre-season) and that’s important to us – that we can always score goals,” emphasized Fortune.
“The defenders must take a lot of credit for this as they are giving the attackers an amazing platform by giving them a constant supply. They are taking pressure on themselves to pass from the defense and in doing so, are engaging a lot of the opposition, but this leaves space down field for our attackers to use.”
“We have had over 10 different goal scorers and how selfless the players are, contributes immensely to their success,” added Fortune, who lost junior captain Delaney Halstead to a season-ending injury in the spring.
The excellent goalkeeping continued for Hudson as junior Sam Rosenberg and freshman Addie Frank each had saves.
Defensive play was supported by junior Ellie Miele, freshman Grace Petrella, Bigham, Muni, sophomore Sienna Trainor, junior Katie Huber along with strong control behind the efforts of freshman Molly Grady, Filipovitz, Bell, sophomore Mady Cline, sophomore Lillian Rizzo, Yanoff, freshman Katie England, and junior Kyla Dunphy.
Fortune loved how the Explorers responded after a tough loss to league rival and state power Twinsburg.
“The loss to Twinsburg was tough, we had a bad first 10 minutes, but played a very good 70 minutes after that and performed very well,” noted the coach. “The growth in every game is key and I think we came out of that game a much better team as we learned lessons, we responded well to adversity and created a lot of chances.”
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Hudson girls soccer continues hot start to the season
