Any team’s season can be defined by a play, a victory or perhaps one noteworthy week. Proof of this comes in the form of the North Atlanta JV girls soccer team. Last week, the Warriors had plenty of big plays, three significant victories, and one possibly season-defining week.

During the week of March 14, the team faced a daunting gauntlet of games that included matches against region rival Riverwood and also against perennial soccer powers Pace and Woodward academies. Making matters even tougher for the team was the fact that all three games were away matches. Through teamwork, tight defense and clutch goals, the JV girls successfully navigated this trying stretch by notching three successive victories. After a 2-1 win over Riverwood on Monday, the team went on to beat Pace 1-0 on Wednesday and Woodward 3-0 on Thursday.

“It was far from easy, but team just found a way to win,” said Jack Stenger, the team coach and a North Atlanta journalism teacher. “There are still big games ahead, but the girls have every right to be proud of what they accomplished.”

The highlights during the week were many. Freshman forward Frances Mosley scored a clutch second-half goal in against the Riverwood Raiders to put that game on ice. The only score in the Pace game came from the right foot of freshman Bethany Creaven. Just three minutes into the game, the midfielder perfectly placed a direct kick in the top right-hand corner of the Pace goal for the game’s only score. “I was hoping it would go in and was certainly happy when it did,” Creaven said.

The remainder of the Pace game was a tense defensive battle and the Warriors relied heavily on its defensive line of freshmen Catherine Johnson, Billie Summerour, along with sophomore Rieley Martin and junior Caroline Ballou.

The Woodward game in College Park was marked by breakaway goals by freshman striker Gwyneth Smith, along with sophomore strikers Eliza Fitzgibbons and Isabela Dobbs. “We knew the week was going to be a tough one so to get three wins is really a big deal for us,” said Johnson, who serves as team captain along with Martin and Ballou.

The three wins lifted the team’s record to 5 wins, 1 loss and 1 tie. On March 24, the Warriors again go on the road to take on always-formidable Greater Atlanta Christian team in Norcross. There’s no telling the outcome of the match but if the team’s performance last week is any indication of what to expect, team supporters can be sure of this: The JV girls soccer team won’t go down without a fight. As the team says in its pre-game cheer: “Play like, em! Be like ‘em! Warriors!”