On Tuesday, Jan. 4, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School women’s varsity soccer team faced off against Nova High School in their ninth game of the season, also known as their Senior Night.

Senior Night is usually played on one of the last home games of the season and is where all seniors get a chance to play throughout the game. Playing with this motivation, they were attempting to keep their undefeated season alive after starting the season with a record of 6-0-2. Going into the game, the Nova Titans had dropped their last three games and had a record of 1-4-1. Just because the Titans had a rough start to the season did not mean that the Eagles were not preparing to take home the crown on senior night.

“When we’re up against a really strong team, we really need to work on our transition when we lose the ball,” coach Laura Rountree said. “There are a lot of things we need to work on.”

Nova kicked off the game with the ball, leading into multiple changes of possessions. Just five minutes into the game, forward Layla Segelnick (15) scored the first goal of the game off an Eagles corner kick. The Eagles took an early 1-0 lead.

This early offensive onslaught did not come to an end. In just four minutes, forward Molly Conn (12) scored two goals and an assist. Conn’s assist was scored by defender Sahai Simmonds (22). This all resulted in a 4-0 Eagles lead with 28 minutes still to play in the first half.

“We all wanted to score because it was senior night,” Conn said. “Also, our passing was really spot on.”

The Eagles continued to be in control of the game. Three minutes after the previous goal by Conn, midfielder Skylar Lund (19) scores off a penalty kick. Shortly following that, Lund counted another goal after readjusting off the blocked kick, scoring off her chest.

“I did a good job of pushing up top more because I play defensive midfield,” Lund said.

Simmonds scored another goal following Lund’s two goals in a row.

Even though the Eagles offense was the reason they were up, their defense still was not letting the Titans downfield. At the conclusion of the game, Nova ended up with possession downfield only once. MSD’s keeper Ella Stevens (2) did not have to make a save throughout the duration of the game.

The Eagles offense was unable to put the ball into the back of the net for a solid period in the first half until forward Addison Krajczewski (25) scored two goals in a row. Just one minute later midfielder Bria Hendry (7) scored her first goal of the game. These goals stretched out the Eagles lead with a score of 10-0 with 7:16 to play in the first half.

The game continued to get out of reach as forward Niema Bien-Anne (8) scored two goals with 4:46 left in the first half. With a score of 12-0, the referees called off the game early, and the Eagles won on their senior night.

It was a night to celebrate for the seniors, especially for Conn, Simmonds and Lund. Without their help on both sides on the field, the game may not have gone the way it did.

“The players came out with lots of excitement because it was senior night and they got a lot of people involved in the scoring of the goals,” Rountree said.

The Lady Eagles play their next game, home against Coral Glades High School on Tuesday, Jan. 11. They hope to continue their undefeated start to the season.