Photo by Erin Nelson.
Hewitt-Trussville’s Lily Burford (17) passes the ball during an area match against Spain Park at Spain Park High School on March 10.
Film study can be a struggle at times for the Hewitt-Trussville High School girls soccer team.
That’s not because the Huskies don’t want to analyze their performance and improve. It has more to do with the team’s collective personality and chemistry. They love being around one another and making jokes.
But they also know how to flip the switch when it’s time to get down to business.
“I’ve never seen such a group of girls that can goof around in warmups and put their game face on,” Hewitt-Trussville head coach Lauren Wooten said.
The team is having fun and the results have reflected that so far in the 2023 season. As of press time, the Huskies were 8-2-3 on the season, with their only two losses coming recently in area play to Spain Park and Oak Mountain.
That’s the toughest thing to navigate for the Huskies this season, as they play in an area with Spain Park, Oak Mountain and Chelsea. Spain Park and Oak Mountain are the past two Class 7A state champions, while Chelsea has been a powerhouse in 6A for many years.
“It’s one of the hardest areas in the state,” senior captain Lily Burford said, “but at the same time, we’re capable of it, so we have to prepare [to win].”
Ella Allen and Anna Grace Savage are the other two seniors for the Huskies, and Wooten praised the seniors’ role in helping this year’s team come together as quickly as it did.
Hewitt-Trussville lost 12 players from last year’s team, returning only eight players to this season’s team.
That didn’t stop the Huskies from going 3-0 and winning the Lakeshore Shootout early in the season, as they knocked off Daphne, LaGrange (Georgia) and Montgomery Academy to win the event.
“To have so many new players joining varsity this year and to see the success we’ve had and the chemistry we’ve been able to build in a short amount of time, it speaks volumes to who they are as people and leaders, but then as players,” Wooten said.
Katie Harbin is a senior captain, like Burford. She said the two of them often go against one another in practice and push each other to be better each day. That is a common refrain throughout the roster.
“She pushes me to be better and we all push ourselves to be better,” Harbin said.
Harbin and Burford noted team strengths as communication and chemistry. An area to improve for the team over the final stretch would be its consistency and avoiding letdowns that can prove costly in a close game.
Wooten pointed to the first half of the Homewood game and Hewitt’s 3-0 area win over Chelsea as high points that show what this team is capable of achieving.
“Those two games stand out as proof we can do it, it’s just about making it last 80 minutes,” she said.
If Hewitt-Trussville can make that happen over the season’s final few weeks, the Huskies may be able to snag one of those elusive playoff berths for the first time in a few years.
