The girls soccer team will play against Marcus Feb. 21 at 4:30 p.m. at Brian Brazil Stadium. This will be the second time the team will face Marcus this season, after a 3-2 loss in the previous matchup on Jan. 24.

“We have a good chance of [coming] out on top [against Marcus,]” forward Maya Walker said. “We have changed tactics to adjust to the way they play in hopes of coming out with a better outcome.”

There are five schools in the district ranked top 11 in the state — with Marcus and Hebron both in  that group. With only the top four teams from each district advancing to the playoffs, that means that a team currently ranked No. 11 in the state would be staying home.

“We’re playing top talent,” head coach Robert Vaughn said. “Nowhere else in the state do you get to play top-10 teams every other day.”

Two of the team’s top players will be gone for the game: forward Jordan Hill and defender Kaylee Rivera. Hill will be out playing for a women’s professional team and Rivera will be in Puerto Rico playing for the Puerto Rican national team.

“The biggest [thing to work on] is teamwork,” midfielder Maddie Martinez said. “A lot of our goals are scored off of selflessness and being able to connect and play together.”

Marcus has only lost one of eight games. The team is ranked first in the district.

“It’s going to be a lot of depending on everybody going in,” Martinez said. “We did lose the last game [against Marcus], so it’s going to be challenging. But I think we’ll be able to go in and beat them.”

Vaughn said the team’s main goal going forward is working on finishing and converting their chances.

“[The] expectation is we [have] to win,” Vaughn said. “We’re right there, we [have] got to turn the corner, and we’ll be fine. When we break out, we don’t say ‘Hawks,’ we say ‘family.’”