Returning Raiders to take experience and run with it

The back-to-back losses suffered by the Quincy Notre Dame girls soccer team at the Class 1A state tournament is something a majority of the Raiders’ roster had never experienced.

They never want to again either.

“I definitely think this will give returning players a lot of motivation in next year’s postseason,” sophomore forward Lia Quintero said. “I know that I don’t want the feeling of this loss again, and I don’t think my teammates do either.”

The Raiders believe they will be back, too.

Saturday’s 6-1 loss to Wheaton Academy in the Class 1A third-place game at Fremd High School marked the end of a season. But on a larger scale, it was the beginning of what could be a special run considering 70 percent of the roster this season was freshmen and sophomores.

This group enjoyed a 13-game unbeaten streak, four consecutive postseason victories without allowing a goal and the sensation of having a state medal hanging around their necks.

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