Ranked sky-high in the entire nation at 31, the PHU girls soccer team’s record shows why they were at the top. They won 19 games, lost a mere two games, and tied only once.

The Canes scored 99 goals and only allowed 10 in their 22 games. In their first four games they outscored their opponents 30 to 0. Freshman Alivia Gonzalez had a breakout season for her debut with many goals.

They beat in-county rival, East Lake 2-0.

In the District Quarterfinal, when they beat Manatee 2-0, Kathryn Huapaya attempted an amazing bicycle kick that just missed.

Sadly, the momentous season terminated after a 2-1 region final loss to Newsome High School.

The Canes faced a lot of adversity in their final game of the season and final game for the seniors.

It all started with the bus ride to Newsome. Instead of taking an hour and a half, it took an overwhelming three hours to arrive to the fields. They only had thirty minutes to warm-up, which contrasts their usual hour warm-ups before games, and in doing so, threw off their normal routines.

The adversity continued with a few controversial calls.

“There were four handballs inside the box that could have resulted in PKs (penalty kicks) and ultimately change the outcome of the game,” said senior Lindsay Mongelluzzi.

However, when the final whistle blew, Newsome had scored more goals to propel them into the State’s Semifinals.

Now, the PHU team says goodbye to six seniors that are all headed in separate paths.

A couple of these seniors leave some words of advice for future Lady Canes soccer players.

“Anything can happen, and don’t give up if you’re losing,” said Kathryn Huapaya who faced the obstacle of an ACL tear and worked her way to being a starter again.

“Enjoy it while you can because it all goes by fast,” said Mongelluzzi, who sincerely misses it already.