Senior Captain Claire Breiding

Q: How many years have you done soccer?

A: I’ve been playing since I was about five years old.

Q: Why did you start playing? 

A: My dad played soccer his whole life, and he was my first coach so he pretty much got me into it. 

Q: What position do you play?

A: I’ve played center defender since I can remember but recently I’ve been playing center defensive mid.

Q: What is the hardest part of being on the soccer team?

A: Probably practices after a bad day of school. All you want to do is go home and sleep it off, but instead, you have to go and run around a field for two hours.

Q: What are some of your favorite moments with the team?

A: Definitely team night and team dinners but also little moments during practices or games where you make a new inside joke with someone or learn something new about a teammate.

Q: What are some highlights or some plays you have done?

A: I have had a good amount of crunching tackles that are 100% clean and send the other girl flying. Those are always super fun. A specific cool play that I had this season was during the Coventry game when I had a slide tackle into a clearance that went from the inside of our goal box all the way to around midfield. 

Q: Do you plan on continuing soccer in college, and if so do you know where you are continuing your career? 

A: Yes, I plan on playing soccer in college. I don’t know quite yet where specifically, but I’m looking at Capital University, Marietta College, Otterbein University and Baldwin Wallace.

Q: How do you feel about this season as opposed to last season?

A: I feel like we are really good this season especially compared to last season. We are connecting as a team on and off the field, we have a completely different mindset because we’re actually confident in ourselves, and we’re throwing the kitchen sink at them every single game.

Q: How did Covid affect the season last year?

A: We didn’t have nearly as many organized preseason workouts or practices because we could only gather so many people so many times due to covid. This season we had weight training months prior to the season beginning, open fields before preseason, and overall more resources for players to prepare themselves this year

Q: What is some advice you would give to an incoming freshman soccer player?

A: Go to anything and everything preseason, during the season, and after the season. Not only will you get better as a soccer player, but you’ll have opportunities to bond with girls you never would’ve thought you’d become friends with.

Senior Captain Natalie Onchak

Q: How many years have you done soccer?

A: I’ve been playing soccer since I was three years old. 

Q: Why did you start playing? 

A: My dad played soccer all his life and coached so I got roped into it. 

Q: What position do you play?

A: I play midfield.

Q: What is the hardest part of being on the soccer team?

A: The hardest part of being on the soccer team is keeping a positive attitude and trying to balance school with practice and games.

Q: What are some of your favorite moments with the team?

A: Some of my favorite moments with the team are team nights and bus rides for away games.

Q: What are some highlights or some plays you have done?

A: Two of my favorite highlights from this season are dribbling from our 30-yard line all the way down the field without anyone trying to stop me from scoring against Alliance and then bending a corner kick into the goal in the game against Cuyahoga Falls.

Q: Do you plan on continuing soccer in college and if so do you know where you are continuing your career? 

A: No, I don’t plan on continuing playing soccer in college.

Q: How do you feel about this season as opposed to last season?

A: I think our team this year has improved so much since last season. We’ve been able to hold our own against the better teams that we lost by a lot to last year.

Q: How did covid affect the season last year?

A: Last season Covid made it hard to do things that we usually did as a team such as team dinners and team nights. Those are things that everyone looks forward to because we grow closer as a team and that’s where we make so many jokes and memories. It was sad not being able to do those things, but I was happy everyone stayed safe. 

Q: What is some advice you would give to an incoming freshman soccer player?

A: Listen to the upperclassman because they know what’s going on and how things work. Don’t be embarrassed when you mess up; we all make mistakes and make fun of each other for it.