By Joshua Huff, sports editor
TRUSSVILLE — The Hewitt-Trussville girls’ soccer team notched its first win of the season and did so against No. 7 ranked Hoover, 1-0, on Friday in Trussville.
The victory was also the first at Hewitt-Trussville for head coach Lauren Wooten, who took over the program in June. Wooten arrived from Auburn High School, where she taught math and served as the varsity girls head coach. In her time there, Auburn won the area championship and advanced to the Class 7A Final Four. Wooten took over the program that had won only six games in 2018 and was able to improve their record to 14-7-3 in 2019.
Wooten then travelled west to helm a Hewitt-Trussville program that finished this past season 6-7-2, which snapped a multiple year streak of above .500 play.
“We have six seniors this year,” Wooten said. “All of whom are key players. I’m super excited about that. We actually got some girls that weren’t a part of the program last year that decided to become a part of the team this year. I think that they bring a lot to the team, as well. We’ve got a little bit of seniority coming back and we’ve got a lot of new kids. It’s going to be fun.”
Despite opening the season with a loss to Class 6A power Chelsea, 4-3, which concluded the 2019 season 17-2-1, the Huskies proved their mettle against the Hornets in a game that Wooten described as a “constant back and forth battle.”
Against Hoover on Friday, Hewitt-Trussville inked the victory after Taylor Doss’ goal with 32 minutes left in regulation proved to be the deciding factor in a defensive battle. With the win, the Huskies move to 1-1 on the season.
“I think the girls can tell you that I’ve changed just about everything,” Wooten said in regards to adding her personal touch throughout the program. “I’m really big on team bonding. We’ve done a lot of team building during our athletics course. We did a more intense preseason of weightlifting and cardio training. I feel like I’ve implemented more organization to the program. You have to ask the girls about it, but I think that it’s gone well.”
Wooten added that she believes that girls have bought in to the wholesale changes and that they’ve begun to grasp the idea that this season could become one of promise and high expectations.
The Huskies hope to ride the wave of momentum as they return to the pitch on Tuesday against Pinson Valley.