by Bea Peterson
HFCS Girls Soccer Coach Tom Husser said, “We lost nine of 16 players from last year. Many of them were really good. Six are playing soccer in college.” Husser said, “I don’t like to use the word rebuilding, but we have holes to fill. Some of the players we lost had been around a long time. That’s why we took so many tournaments.” Last season, when it came time for the sectionals Husser brought several girls up from the JV squad to “get a taste” of playing Varsity. “Most Hoosick Falls girls play soccer year around and that helps,” he said. He has already selected the 15 girls for the Varsity squad. They had a scrimmage in Glens Falls on Wednesday and on Friday five teams will scrimmage with Hoosick Falls at the Hoosick Soccer Field starting at 10 am. “The scrimmages will give us an idea of how well we will do,” said Husser. The team’s first game is a home game under the lights on Tuesday, September 9, at 7 pm against Granville. “We’ve won 24 in a row,” Husser said. “We’d like to keep the streak going.”
“They’re a young team, a good mix. They get along well. The seniors are showing good leadership,” he said. “I’m always lucky. I always seem to get a good group of kids.”
European Trip
In July Coach Husser took 32 girl soccer players and 16 adults from Hoosick, Cambridge, Bennington and Manchester, VT, to Europe to sightsee and participate in a soccer tournament. “The trip was awesome!” Husser said. They flew into Rome, visited the Vatican and Sistine Chapel, the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain. In Pisa they saw the leaning tower and went to a soccer club where the girls spent two hours working with Italian trainers. Then it was on to Florence to visit the beautiful Duomo (cathedral), shop at the Old Bridge and taste some gelato (Italian ice cream). They enjoyed a hilltop view of the city and then moved on to Venice for gondola rides and sightseeing.
Soccer Tournament
In the Alps, at the Italian, Austrian and Swiss border, 45 teams from 18 countries participated in a soccer tournament. Both of Husser’s teams won their brackets. The playing altitude was 4,000 feet. Their hotel, however, was at 7,000 feet.
Next the group went to the glacier in Switzerland and took a three hour white water raft ride with some class four rapids. In Munich, Germany, the group had a bike tour of the old city and then went swimming. The tour ended at a soccer club where they enjoyed a cookout and where the girls played two German teams. It was certainly a trip to remember!