On Friday Jan. 22 through the chilling 54-degree temperature, and rough plays, the Martin Lady Warriors varsity team pulled through with an impressive 6 to 1 win against the Arlington High Lady Colts in their first official district game of the season. Not only did the Lady Warriors win the game, but the girls successfully snuffed out the three-year win streak that the Lady Colts had, beginning what they hope will be a Warrior win streak. After a grueling 80-minute game, the Lady Warriors had to continue the fight into a shootout that they won in a landslide.

Junior Grace Reddic played defender in the game. 

“The game, in my opinion, is a well fought and entertaining game,” Reddic said. “Both teams put everything on the line but in the end we came out on top.”

Reddic has been playing soccer for all of her three years at Martin, and has been on the varsity team for two consecutive years.

“This was also by far out of my three years playing soccer at Martin, the most exciting game I have played,” Reddic said.

For freshman Rydlii Rives, this was not only her first Martin vs. Arlington game, but it was her first district game as a Lady Warrior varsity soccer player.

“I think the game was very exciting because they are rivals,” Rives said. “But I think our team was capable of doing better.”

Senior player and varsity team captain Rylee Rives said she played her hardest through the grueling game.

“It was a very physical game that we had to fight for every second,” Rylee Rives said.

Head coach Sabina Harrington took a straightforward approach in her opinion of the game.

“Well we won, so overall I’m happy about it and it was a really exciting game, and it went back and forth,” Harrington said. “Arlington is a very aggressive team, they want to bump and hit you, and take you out of your game but I think our girls did a good job and maintained their composure.”

Freshman goalie Haley Martin had a big responsibility riding on her shoulders during this game but she made the best of it.

“The game was very exciting and fun to play in,” Martin said.

Teammates said that for this game being so stressful, freshman Rydlii Rives handled it like a professional.

“I was nervous when we were down 0-1 in the first half with 20 minutes left, but I knew our team was competitive and wasn’t going to give up and we kept fighting to win,” Rydlii Rives said.

This game was watched with some worry from Harrington.

“After they scored that goal I thought, ‘Aww man, now they are just going to fall back, kick it out of bounds, and use up the time,’” she said.

Some part of the game got to Martin as expected, but she pulled through and still played her best.

“I was nervous that we would not score a goal,” Martin said. “Before the half when Arlington  scored and before the penalty kicks, I was nervous.”

In the first half of the game the first point was scored by the Colts but the Lady Warriors didn’t let that stop them from fighting.  

“When they first scored, which was frankly an accident, I had a slight feeling of doubt and nervousness,” Reddic said. “But this was quickly erased by the fact that I knew my teammates and I were the better team and we were going to make a comeback.”

In the first half when the Colts scored, Rylee Rives said she felt the strain of the game.

“After they scored, I knew it would take a lot of hard work to come back and I was nervous we were too tired,” Rylee said.

One of Martin’s shining moments as a goalie in the game also happened to be one of her favorite parts of the entire game.

“My favorite part of the game was the last penalty kick that was saved,” Martin said.

One part of the game particularly stood out for Rydlii Rives.

“My favorite part of the game was definitely the penalty kicks,” Rydlii Rives said. “I was so nervous but at the same time it was exciting and I was glad for the experience.” 

 There were many highlights of the game, but one stood out in particular for Reddic.

“My favorite part of the was definitely we scored the goal to tie the game,” Reddic said. “It was a sigh of relief but also a rush of adrenaline.”

Nonetheless, Harrington said she had faith in her girls to take back control of the game.

“I wish we would have scored first,” Harrington said. “We didn’t, but we came through. Not that you don’t get nervous, but I knew we were going to win that.”

For Rylee Rives, there was a clear point in the game that stood out in her memory.

“The best part was after we won the last round of PKs and everyone was running to the middle to cheer and we were all so excited,” she said.

Even when the team was down on their nerves, Haley Martin said she still maintained a strategic players mentality.

“I was nervous at halftime because we were down one goal and when Arlington scores on us, they push back to defense and it is very hard to penetrate them,” Martin said.

When it came down to penalty kicks, Harrington said she knew that with the combination of her well-rounded goalie and skilled players, they had the game in the bag.

“I was really confident,” Harrington said. “Haley is our goalkeeper, she is a tall lanky one, and she covers a lot of area. I also knew that the girls that we had going up to kick are solid players. They have played a lot of soccer.”

Even though the ladies were down by one in the first half, you would never guess based on the way they were fighting through it.

“I was definitely feeling anxious but I knew we had it under control,” Reddic said.“I was also upset about letting Arlington score their goal, which could have been prevented, but I shook that off and just looked forward to the second half.”

Though worry was on her mind, Rylee Rives said she managed to keep a positive attitude and trust in her team to get the win they deserved.

“I was nervous because we hadn’t scored yet,” she said. “But I was confident because I had controlled the game for the most part and knew that we were more fit to give us an advantage in the second half.”

Rives’ drive never faltered once during the game. 

“At halftime we were tied 0-0 and I was already pretty heated from the first half, so I was ready to play the second half and get the win and compete,” she said.

There was one player in particular that the coach felt really won the game for the entire team simply by being there.

“I think Rylee Rives won that game for us by keeping her team,” Harrington said. “She is a good communicator and she calms people down. She may not be the flashiest – not that you don’t notice her, she’s almost six foot tall – but there is just so much that Rylee does in a game.” 

Rydlii Rives played a vital part in the win, sinking the final penalty kick to secure the win for the Lady Warriors.

“Penalty kicks was definitely a very nerve racking situation, especially when it came down to my PK to win the game,” Rives said. “I was glad I was given the responsibility as a freshman on the varsity team.”

Martin arguably had the most pressure on her during this game because she was in the goal for penalty kicks.

“At the penalty kicks I was really nervous because there was a lot of pressure on me to make a save,” Martin said.

Though many soccer players don’t love having a game come to penalty kicks, Reddic in particular was not fond of the way that the game had to be finished.

“I have always despised penalty kicks, but I fully believed in our keeper and our players,” Reddic said. “Even when Arlington had scored I knew we were going to be okay.”

When it came down to penalty kicks, Rylee Rives said she had the utmost trust in her team to use their skills to the best of their abilities.

“Penalty kicks are always scary because anything can happen,” Rylee Rives said. “At the end of the day, though, I knew we had more experienced and precise shooters who could handle the pressure better than them.”

Martin said she felt that one of her senior teammates really stood out during this game.

“I think that Yairee Perez did a really great job in the back,” Martin said. “She kept them from getting half the shots they could have capitalized on, overall she performed really well that night.”

Rydlii Rives had an all-star player for the game of her own in mind.

“Grace Reddic stood out the most because she stepped up and shut down their best player,” Rives said.

When asked which of her teammates stood out the most to her in the game, Rylee Rives gave her answer without question.

“Grace Reddic stepped up and played a new position because she was only one fast enough to mark their best player and she shut her down,” Rylee Rives said.

All of the girls put in an amazing fight, but Reddic felt one player showed her skills the best.

“I think the person that really stood out would have to be Rylee Rives,” Reddic said. “She was everywhere on the field and was a part of every opportunity we had to score.”  

Harrington explained how vital a member Rylee Rives really is to her team, and why she has earned the title of team captain.

“What she does helps her teammates do their thing,” Harrington said. “She allows so many other things to happen with just the presence that she has, in the middle.”

Harrington said she has no worries for the future of her team and knows that along with help from the fans, the Lady Warriors can win this season.

“We’re gonna go out and win district and we’re gonna do it undefeated,” Harrington said. “We want to keep the crowd coming out because that helps us a bunch.”