When Arni Sepehri became the coach of the Marshall High girls’ soccer team this past offseason, his desire was to bring a winning spirit to the program.
In recent years, Marshall girls’ soccer has struggled to win. As a result, losses have become common place and team morale has been hurt.
Sepehri is trying to change all that.
"We’re trying to change the culture," said Sepehri. "Marshall’s program has never been very competitive. We’re trying to put together a competitive team."
On the scoreboard, this spring season has continued to be a struggle on the field as the Statesmen (2-5) are battling to be competitive. But there are positive things occurring with the team.
"Our record right now is not very good," said the coach. "But I’m not worried about our record this year. My [focus] is to improve the outlook of the girls and change their mentality."
In Liberty District games last week, Marshall lost contests to Stone Bridge, 3-0, on Wednesday and Langley, 1-0, on Friday. Even though the Statesmen loss the two contests, they were not overwhelmed and played decent soccer.
"The girls are really coming together and embracing the whole notion of competition," said Sepehri.
The coach was proud of his team’s play against a tough Langley squad in particular.
"Langley has a number of high caliber players who play club soccer," he said. "We held our own against them. I’m very happy of the performance of the team in general. I’m looking for a positive performance trend and feel things are coming together well."
<b>SEPEHRI</b> said it has not necessarily been easy trying to bring a winning mindset to a program that has struggled to win.
"You’re going to run into a little bit of resistance," he said. "I have to say sometimes, `Hea girls, we have to take this seriously.’"
Marshall has just 14 players on its varsity roster, which allows for just three substitutes. Other teams the Statesmen have played this spring, such as district opponents Woodson and Stone Bridge, have much bigger rosters and exceptionally talented players.
"They have Div. 1 [caliber] players sitting on their bench," said Sepehri, of squads such as the Cavaliers and Bulldogs. "At Marshall, we don’t have that luxury. My mentality is a long term view [for the program]."
The coach has seen this spring as a year of improvement for Marshall, and believes the Statesmen have the capability to be improved in all areas of the field.
Maralee Pepper, for instance, gave the Statesmen stellar play at the goalie position in the close loss to Langley.
"She had a great game," said the coach. "It was her most consistent performance of the year."
Both the coach and his players are looking forward to this Friday night when Marshall, which has wins over Falls Church and Wakefield this season, will play a district home game against local rival Madison.