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Independence (12-1) is not just elite within its county; it is considered one of the top Class 5 teams in the state.
“This is a special, special group of kids,” Coach Ann Vierkorn said. “This is my 16th season as a varsity coach, and I can tell this group is just unique. Great character, extremely positive, good discipline, coachable. They make this extremely fun.”
A season like this has been in the works in Ashburn for a few years. To say the Tigers burst onto the scene in 2021 would be an understatement: In a season marred by coronavirus restrictions and cancellations, Independence made it to the Class 3 championship in its first year as a program. The Tigers lost to Western Albermale, but the meaning of their appearance was clear: There was a new contender in Northern Virginia.
After a down year last spring, the Tigers were given a boost heading into this season. Club soccer often runs parallel to the high school season, and the relationship between the teams can be capricious. Several schools across the state have elite players that don’t play for the school team at all, either because the club schedule is too hectic or the club team expressly forbids them from the scholastic game.
One effect of this is local teams suddenly getting an injection of experienced, refined talent when club players suddenly come out for the team because they have been freed from their restrictions or decide to make both commitments work.
“We always had a lot of people at our school who play competitive, high-level soccer,” said midfielder Reagan Wise, one of three four-year varsity players. “And this year, they all just decided to come out for the team and see what we could put together.”
That group of newcomers included players such as senior midfielder Ava Galligan, an LSU signee, and junior defender Jasmine Boggs, a Tennessee commit. It didn’t take long for Vierkorn to realize their presence, in addition to the team’s returning talent, could make for a special spring.
“We knew right away that we had a lot of talent,” the coach said. “And the interesting thing about this group is they play best when they don’t feel pressure and are just experiencing joy. So we just try to keep a positive environment and trust them to do the right thing.”
That approach seems to be working just fine, as the Tigers have looked mostly untouchable with one week remaining in the regular season. They won their 12 games by an average of 5.3 goals, thanks to a balanced scoring effort that has featured most of the roster finding the back of the net.
The lone blemish was 1-0 loss to Stone Bridge (12-2) in mid-April. On Thursday night, it didn’t take long for the Tigers to write a different script as they scored their first three goals inside 10 minutes. Senior forward Kaitlyn Nimmer finished with a hat trick, while Wise, junior Viviana Pope and sophomore Sammy Shroeder had one apiece.
“I personally don’t like talking about this team’s potential because I don’t want to jinx it,” Nimmer said. “People may talk about the state final, but I want to just focus on the next game. We all know deep down we have a lot of talent on this team, but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.”
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