The 2018 Verona Girls Varsity Soccer team’s season came to an end on November 9 when they to Morris Tech 2-0 in the semifinals of the state tournament bringing to an end a very successful season.

The team went 3-2-2 in their conference and 8-7-2 overall. Some of the highlights included beating long-time rival Glen Ridge. Last year, the Ridger’s ended the Hillbillies’ season after beating them in the state sectional Championship. Another highlight of the girls’ season was tying nationally-ranked Nutley High School who ended their conference season with only one loss and one tie.

To put into perspective how impressive this is, in previous years the Nutley Raiders had consistently beaten the Hibilies by double digits.

Another impressive game was against Mount Saint Dominic Academy, where the Hillbillies tied the Lady Lions 1-1. Mount Saint Dominic Academy is another regionally-ranked team that has been a notoriously tough squad for Verona to beat in the past.

Next year, the girls will lose six players to graduation, including five varsity starters. Despite losing such a large group of seniors, the team is still optimistic about next year’s season because of its promising freshman class this year. Three freshman made it onto the varsity squad, two of whom earned starting spots. In addition many freshmen were able to make their way up to JV from the freshman team and become important contributors there. The sophomore and junior classes also have many returning talented players that will be an important part of the team’s success next year.