Last Thursday, the Westside girls soccer team lost to the first ranked Millard West Wildcats in the first round of the state tournament, ending their season. Although the team lost many key players last year, they stayed consistent throughout this year and kept above .500 ending the regular season with an eight and six record giving them the number two seed in districts. There, the team passed by Omaha South with a one to nothing victory then came back from a two-goal deficit against Lincoln Southeast with only five minutes left in regulation and ended up winning the game in the second overtime. The comradery that each of the teammates has had with each other has been an obvious strong point for this team.

“This has been the best team from a team standpoint that I’ve had coaching here,” head coach Nathan Moseley said. “In previous years there has been drama and disagreements amongst team members but this team isn’t like that.”

This year’s team has added to a series of Westside girls teams that have made it to the state tournament but to junior Abby Hellman, the culture seemed different this time.

“This year everyone seemed to really enjoy each other and enjoyed playing together,” Hellman said. “I think the closeness made it a lot easier for us to become more of a team instead of individuals playing on the field.”

Unfortunately for the Warriors, seven seniors will be moving on to college next year, leaving some major gaps on the pitch.

“We definitely need some leadership next year just for the younger girls as we will have a lot of underclassmen on the team because there are just so many seniors this year,” Hellman said. “Plus there are not very many sophomores and junior on the team right now. So we’ll just need some leadership and it should be pretty interesting.”

Along with the graduating seniors, the team will be saying goodbye to long-tenured head coach Nathan Moseley. He recently confirmed rumors going around that this will be his last year as a coach for the soccer team.

“The biggest reason is that I have kids of my own and they are reaching the age where I have started to miss things of theirs this year and I don’t want to be that dad that’s gone for those reasons,” Moseley said.

Moseley acknowledged the love he has for the game of soccer as well as the Westside program but felt that this was the time to step down.

“You grow close to the girls and there’s just a comradery with them and the other coaches,” Moseley said.

With the loss of a long-tenured head coach as well as multiple college level players, the team will look to rely on the young roster to find some leaders to drive them forward. If players stay in shape and progress well throughout this offseason, the future is looking bright for the Warriors.