Hulne: Packers girls soccer team is ready for the next step
Published 7:44 pm Monday, August 19, 2013
The fall sports season is soon to be upon us, and I can’t wait to get it going.
One of the more intriguing teams to watch this season could be the Packer girls soccer team. After making a pretty big splash by going 7-9-1 overall last season, the squad seems set for even bigger things this season.
It was just a few years ago that the Packers were losing games by as many as eight or nine goals, but since head coach Enrique Camarena-Corzo took over two years ago, the team has gone 12-21-1 overall after having won just six times in the three previous seasons combined.
But it’s not just winning that Camarena-Corzo has brought to this squad. The Packers have developed a work ethic that is second to none. It’s not uncommon to see players showing signs of fatigue or disinterest in practice when there’s no games coming up in the near future. But when I was working on the fall previews and stopped by the Austin girls soccer team’s practice, I didn’t see any of that.
All I saw was a lot of running and a lot of hustle.
With an attitude like that, this team will be a tough one to beat and will rarely, if ever, find itself on the wrong side of a lopsided score.
I won’t be surprised if the Packers, who have 10 seniors on the squad and a strong group of younger players as well, improve on their win total from last season.
The process of turning around a struggling program can be a long and difficult one for any coach. It looks like Camarena-Corzo and his coaching staff are on the verge of doing that.
But we’ll have to wait and see what happens this fall to be sure.
Bring on the games.
The Packers open their season against Fairmont at home Thursday at 7 p.m.