The girls’ soccer team started the season strong, with a 6-0 win against Poolesville at home.

It took just 71 seconds for them to find the net. Sophomore Sydney Walsh scored off an assist from junior midfielder Erinn Carr to make it a 1-0 lead. WJ followed that up by scoring two more goals early on in the first half, one by junior captain Evie Avillo and a second from Walsh.

The Cats entered halftime with a 3-0 lead and thanks to the defense in front of her, sophomore goalie Chloe Russ didn’t have much work to do with the Falcons having zero shots on goal.

“I think we did a good job all around, I think we did a really good job getting back and playing it forward again,” Carr said. “I think we did a good job playing it out wide, and our crosses were really good as well.”

The second half started well with Carr scoring a goal on a turnover in Poolesville’s defensive half, making it 4-0. Six minutes later, senior captain Ella Hoban passed it to Walsh, who completed her hat trick in her first varsity game. Junior Haley Prindle scored the sixth and final goal of the game.

“I thought we played really well, we all worked really hard and I think our movement on and off the ball was really good, which allowed us to combine really well,” Avillo said. “We scored very easily and we had even more chances. It was a very good game overall.”

Russ faced zero scoring chances throughout the game, and in the second half the team turned to senior goalie Lexie Burns, who saved Poolesville’s lone shot on goal. The Wildcats dominated the possession for the majority of the game, and Poolesville had trouble generating quality chances.

Despite the impressive 6-0 win, the team knows there is still work to be done for a long season ahead.

“I think we need to work a lot on awareness and when to switch the ball and when to play it back,” Walsh said. “I think we force (the pass) a lot sometimes. I think if we keep our intensity we should be good.”

The Cats look to keep up the same intensity at Oakdale HS on Saturday, Sept. 14.