CANTON, Mich. (BVM) — Last season, the Canton girls soccer team and all other spring sports were suspended for the year due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. With almost a year off from high school athletics, Emily Woods didn’t know where she stood with her team. As a sophomore, Woods was at both the junior varsity and varsity tryouts, but those tryouts only lasted one day due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With all the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and the future of her sophomore season, Woods said it was “brutal, especially only going through one day of tryouts.”

With the season eventually officially being canceled, seniors around the country lost their last chance to play for their school, and Woods lost a pivotal season for development, as well as a chance to win a trophy. 

Going into another important year, there was still uncertainty for Woods and her teammates if there would be a chance to play a season with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to rage on. Despite all the obstacles thrown her way this season from the pandemic, hybrid learning, and SATs and ACT testing, Woods managed to lead the lines for the Canton offense.

“It was definitely a tough season with all the schedule changes and hybrid learning, as well as mentally challenging for me,” Woods said.

With the return of high school sports around the country, many teams were going into a season that was much different than they were used to for a few reasons, and Canton was no different. The most obvious change to the season was the implementation of mask wearing. 

“They were difficult to play in, but important for everyone’s safety,” Woods noted.

Another distinction from a regular season was the fact that many of the players hadn’t played competitive soccer for some time. Woods — and many of her teammates — play club soccer for the Plymouth Reign. Having played with her friends for so long, the chemistry was a clear advantage on the field.

“It definitely does for sure, it gives us an advantage knowing each other’s playing styles since we’ve played together for six years now,” Woods said.

After it was all said and done, Canton ended the season 5-5-5. Although not a terribly impressive record, the season ended on a high.

“A lot of the games we lost were only by one goal and the season could have gone much differently if we had just turned some results,” Woods said.

Woods attributes much of the success of the season to her all-senior backline who only conceded 12 goals all year.

Knowing that her squad could hang with any team they were matched up against gave Woods confidence going into the district championship game against Salem — a school rival. Woods and Canton had already played Salem twice due to their league schedule and tied them twice — both goalless draws. 

Although Salem was undefeated going into the district championship game, Woods knew they had a chance to pull off the upset. 

“I knew it was going to be a tough game, but our defense was so strong the first two games that they were not able to convert any of their chances,” Woods said.

Having played Salem twice this season, Woods and the Chiefs knew their defense would hold against the Rocks, but offense was the issue with this Canton team having scored only 12 goals the entire season. Salem started the scoring first with the Chiefs netting a goal to tie it up before halftime. 

After a motivating team talk at the half by Coach Jeannine Ready — who encouraged the team to take what they had been given — the Chiefs were ready to make a run to win the district championship. After halftime, Woods knew something needed to change.

“We knew we had to finish, we didn’t have as many chances as Salem,” Woods said.

With a district championship on the line, Canton changed up its game tactics and managed to pull off the 2-1 upset of the Salem Rocks with Woods scoring the winning goal. 

“It was like something out of a movie,” Woods said about the game winning goal. “It was a dream, I had hoped I could make a change like that.”

For a team that was 5-5-5 going into a championship against a team that was undefeated, the Chiefs outperformed and exceeded expectations. The Chiefs would go on to lose their next game in the regional semifinals, but Woods still sees the season as a big success with room to improve. 

Canton is losing its star senior defenders, but gaining some valuable rising seniors with championship experience on the offensive side of the game. Woods has set some lofty goals for herself and her team next season, wishing to improve both individually and as a team in terms of goal production. Defending their district championship is another goal as well as advancing even further in the state tournament. 

“I want to carry the momentum that we left off on and make sure it doesn’t take as long to get going,” Woods said.

Woods is a rising senior and is still unsure about where she wants to go to college. 

“I’ve always thought I would play college soccer, I don’t think high school is the end of the road for me,” the rising senior said.

Looking to find a school that challenges both her academic goals and athletic goals, Woods is excited for what the future holds.

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