Miami Palmetto Senior High’s girls varsity soccer 2024-25 season is in action. Their schedule includes 14 games, seven of which the team has already played. As the new season began, the team welcomed two freshman players: Florencia Caceres and Lila Goldhaber.
Being a freshman on varsity can be intimidating, but Goldhaber sees it as an opportunity to grow. She embraces the obstacle of competing against older, more experienced players as a chance to improve her game.
“I think the environment is welcoming, and I think playing with older girls benefits me as a player so I can get better,” Goldhaber said. “We are off to a rocky start, but hopefully we will improve with time and more practice.”
Similar to Goldhaber, Caceres is enthusiastic about school soccer. She has been a starter and played the full duration in most games.
“Even though we are not doing as well as we had hoped, as we practice and play with each other, a lot more friendships are building throughout the team,” Caceres said. “This grows the chemistry between us, which follows us to the field.”
Having chemistry on a sports team is extremely critical because most girls do not play together outside school. Adjusting can be somewhat strenuous, but it is all worthwhile to see the team evolve together.
Coach Alex Castro has high hopes for his team. In the previous season, the Panthers played less competitive teams to secure as many wins as possible. This season, Castro wanted to try something different.
“I tried adding much more competitive games to our schedule this season because I want the girls to see what real competition looks like. They don’t know it now, but this strategy will develop them in the long run,” Castro said.
Castro, Goldhaber and Caceres all have the same goal: districts. Reaching districts is a challenging task, but it is clear that the team is on the right track.
The results of the seven games played are listed below:
The first game took place on Nov. 5 against Archbishop McCarthy, the Panthers lost 0-4.
The second game was on Nov. 6 against South Dade, the Panthers won 3-0. Sophomore Raya Kempler scored the first goal, senior Camryn Corwin scored the second goal and junior Isabella Marin scored the third goal.
The third game was on Nov. 8 against Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, the Panthers tied 1-1, with Kempler scoring the goal.
The fourth game took place on Nov. 13 against American Heritage, the Panthers had an unfortunate loss of 0-8.
The fifth game was on Nov. 15 against TERRA Environmental, the Panthers won 2-1, with senior Abigail Pereira scoring both goals.
The sixth game was held on Nov. 20 against Coral Reef, the Panthers won 4-1 with freshman Florencia Caceres scoring the first goal, Kempler scoring the second, Corwin scoring the third and Pereira scoring the fourth.
The seventh game was on Nov. 22 against MAST Academy, the Panthers won 3-0 with Caceres scoring the first two goals and Kempler scoring the third.
