The whole stadium holds their breath as freshman Hailey Vermilyea lines up to take the penalty shot. Vermilyea takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, takes a look at the goal and approaches the ball. She kicks it, and it floats through the air, landing perfectly in the top right corner of the goal. The crowd goes wild and she smiles. 

Hailey Vermilyea, a freshman on the soccer team, was originally put on the JV team. However, the coaches recognized her talent and she ended up getting pulled up to varsity. 

Tiana Mikes, a freshman on JV, played with Vermilyea for a while.“I loved being on a team with Hailey, but when she got moved up, I was so happy for her because that is a huge accomplishment, however I was kind of sad knowing that we would not get to play together any more this year,” Mikes said. 

“When I got pulled up to varsity it felt so exciting and like a huge accomplishment although I was incredibly scared to be playing against older girls,” Vermilyea said.

After she advanced to varsity, everyone was extremely excited for her.  

“Now that I’ve been playing for a few weeks, I have definitely gained confidence, but it’s nerve- racking being the youngest on the team,” Vermilyea said.

“I was nervous at first, being a freshman on varsity, but all my teammates are super supportive and have made me feel welcome to the team.” Vermilyea said. 

“I love having Hailey on the team, she is the sweetest thing and is always fun to be around in practice and in a game. She has so much talent and deserves to be on varsity. All of us upperclassmen love having her around,” junior Emily Cook said.

Vermilyea plays all of the field but mostly on the outside channels as a outside back or a winger, so next time you go to a girls varsity soccer game look out for number 17. Vermilyea has been playing soccer since she was seven and her hard work is definitely paying off.