Girl’s Soccer Petitions Playoff Schedule

Alia Parker, Sports Editor

The Raider girls’ soccer team has had countless successful seasons within Prince George’s County and in their division. They have won the county championship for the past three years, but have yet to make it to the state championship. This doesn’t reflect on the quality of Prince George’s County soccer or on our Raiders, but on the seeding and scheduling of the Maryland soccer state playoffs.

The state tournament bracket is made up of teams from all over the state of Maryland. However, two teams not located in Prince George’s County, Leonardtown High School and North Point High School, have somehow gotten into the bracket composed of only Prince George’s County teams.

These two schools get to play against the lowest seeds in the county, giving them a big advantage. And this also adds two extra teams to the county bracket. With more teams in the bracket, the Raiders have to play more games than other county champions in order to qualify for the state championship.

Teams in the county have other disadvantages with the new playoff scheduling. They have to travel farther distances to play Leonardtown and North Point. They also have to fit more games into a smaller period of time, giving them less time to prepare for each match. This has led to no team from our county moving on past the regional round of the state playoffs, which hasn’t happened for years.

According to senior Hannah Thomas, the Raiders were “more fatigued than the teams (they) played outside of their bracket,” leading to their loss before they reached the state championship.

This is also affecting their time in school, said senior captain Inonge Kaloustian. “Teams throughout the county had to miss more classes” due to their games being squeezed into small frames of time.

Despite their outstanding season last year, the Raiders are not ranked in the top 10 according toTthe Washington Post.

However, the Raiders are returning numerous starters. This experienced varsity team is still viewed by many as a team to beat in the state of Maryland.