There’s a lot of everything going right for the Seven Lakes girls soccer team this season.

Ranked No. 6 in Class 6A in the state by the Texas Girls Coaches Association, boasting an incredible plus-38 goal differential in an intimidating District 19-6A, the Spartans are 16-2-0 overall and 10-1-0 in district play, on the precipice of their second district title in six years with a win Friday, March 12, against Cinco Ranch.

Seven Lakes leads 19-6A with 39 goals scored and has only one goal against in producing 10 shutouts in 11 district games.

“It’s one of those things where we worked so hard during the fall semester leading into this, you want to see how the team comes together on and off the field,” coach Kaitlyn Eidson said. “We just focus game by game and see where the results fall, and so far they’ve fallen pretty good for us.”

The last time she’s had a team this balanced, Eidson said, was in 2016. That’s the last time Seven Lakes was district champ.

“I had a really good feeling at tryouts,” senior Paige Boucher said. “I saw so many good players and I saw our team coming together. We have really good chemistry this year. The key is staying calm and collected. At the beginning of games, we can get really frantic. But if we can take deep breaths, calm down and put the ball on the ground, we can find each other, and it really helps our game.”

Seven Lakes has a diverse, potent attack, with such great speed that forwards have had to slow down to connect better with midfielders to make the good play.

The Spartans’ combination of smart passing and dynamic finishing was evident in their 7-0 win over Morton Ranch on Tuesday, March 9. Boucher and sophomore Haydan Erck scored two goals apiece, and three other Spartans found the back of the net. The Spartans connected on a program record 424 passes in the game, a remarkable feat.

“The identity of this team is keeping possession,” Eidson said. “We can get enough shots on goal that enough will go in.”

On the defensive side, however, is where the Spartans are really overwhelming opponents.

Despite two new center backs in sophomores Rebecca Romero and Katie Lennon, Seven Lakes has quickly found a rhythm along the backline, thanks to the vocal stewardship of sophomore goalkeeper Maddie Rich, whose leadership skills are well beyond her years, and the organized play of seniors Lexi Peterson and Sara Lopez, and junior Luann Drake.

Seven Lakes’ lone goal surrendered in district play came in a 1-0 defeat to Tompkins on Feb. 2. Otherwise, it’s been terrific defensively. It took Taylor, a probable playoff team, 50 minutes before it put a shot on goal in Seven Lakes’ 2-0 win on March 6. Morton Ranch was unable to put a shot on goal at all three days later.

“I wasn’t expecting this at all, especially with the younger girls we pulled up,” Peterson said. “We have really good communication. We’re different grades, different ages, but we’ve done well working together in the back and keeping that chemistry going.”

Eidson does not care to look too far ahead or stop and think about how good her team is. She is of the one-game-at-a-time mentality, and reluctant to highlight specific players as difference-makers.

“With as balanced of a team as this is, that’s hard to do,” she said.

But Eidson is willing to admit how much a district championship would mean. Of course, a gold trophy is significant in itself, but in a district as heated and competitive as 19-6A—Katy ISD had Seven Lakes, Tompkins and Cinco Ranch ranked in the top 10 regionally in the preseason— it means more.

“We have a lot of goals, but we care most about the district rankings and the district season,” Eidson said. “Play the way we want to play, respect our opponents, and let our quality show through. Katy ISD performs really well, and we take a lot of pride in winning district. It would mean a lot.”