Forest Hills Girls Soccer Coach Looks To Next Year

It was quite a season for the team. At the beginning of the season, head coach Bob Sprance admits he had no idea what to expect.

"You always hope for the best, but realistically we had six new players coming into the lineup, so I didn't in anyway , plus I moved some players around," he said. Sprance admitted that he moved so many players into different positions, he wasn't sure how the team would perform on the field.

"I redid the whole team over, everything was all question marks at the beginning of the season."

The first few games of the year had some growing pains, and the Rangers were forced to play behind multiple times.

Sprance said that those early performances ultimately proved to be yardstick games where the girls got a chance to show what they were made of.

After those early come-from-behind victories, Sprance said, the team gelled.

"At the beginning it was somewhat luck, but they started to get into a groove and they maintained it by themselves," he said. "They really worked hard, they never gave up, and each part of the team did its job."

The all-too brief playoff run, ended this week with a, was a disappointment, he admitted, but said that a team as talented as the Rangers had nothing to apologize for.

He said the team was hurt by the loss of sophomore defender Lina Dominguez, who injured her knee 31 minutes into the game. Dominguez required Sprances help to get off the field during the game, and may require surgery on her knee.

Despite the injury to his star defender, Sprance said the future looks bright for Forest Hills, with just four starters graduating and freshman phenom Jackie Brito and Dominguez anchoring next year's squad.

"It's hard to predict because we're changing four important positions, but we'd have the same exact goals to be honest — minimum goal to win the division and go deep into the playoffs," he said. "This was just an incredible season from the start."

Sprance praised the Rangers as a team for their unity and their ability to work together toward a shared objective.

"I'm totally proud of what they did," he said. "On the field they were incredible. Off the field, they were incredible to coach, no arguments, they were a lot of fun."