The girls soccer season is up and running with the local ladies taking part in a week-long tournament hosted out of Horizon Honors.

The Horizon tournament began Monday and continues this evening, with the final day of play scheduled for this Friday, Dec. 6.

Regular play for the Lady Falcons begins on Dec. 11 with a 6 p.m. outing at Seton Catholic. The local squad will finally play in front of the home crowd on Friday, Dec. 13, with a 6 p.m. match-up versus the team from Cactus Shadows.

As the ball gets rolling, head coach Alison Mabery took a moment to reflect on the 2012-13 season, her first year with the Fountain Hills High School program.

“Last season was very successful,” Mabery said.

“We made it into the state playoffs and made it to the second round. We played hard but ended up falling short to the state champions.”

Mabery said the team grew tremendously in terms of playing aggressively and defending last year, something she hopes to see continue in the coming months.

“This year I am looking for the team to continue building upon those two skills,” she said.

“We are focused on winning 50/50 balls and getting the defense to push up a lot more on the attacking side of the game and become involved with having opportunities to make runs and score.”

The 2013-14 squad is full of a lot of young talent with seven freshmen joining the ranks and 10 returning players. Mabery said this makes for a great mix of up-and-comers and experienced vets.

Mabery said she’s spending the first few weeks of practice developing the team’s defense, adding that, with outstanding defense, goals will come easier.

“We should be really good in the air this year, and hopefully in the box,” she said.

“We have the opportunity and talent to score some beautiful goals this year and I’m looking forward to watching us capitalize more on our scoring chances than we did last year.”

Helping Mabery lead the team will be the three athlete-selected captains for the season, Kahri Smith, Alex Bergner and Jessica Stricker.

Smith rejoins the Falcons after being named the second team all-state keeper last season and, as reported in The Times last week, she plans to stay in the box and knock away goals clear into college.

“Alex is the voice of our team and really has the ability to pick her teammates up through her communication on and off the field,” Mabery said of the other captains.

“Jess will return as our starting sweeper with her fast and aggressive track-down of the opponent’s forwards. She really does a great job clearing the ball as well.”

As a team, Mabery said the Lady Falcons’ goal is to make it to the state playoffs again this year. And, with a bit of hard work and determination, who knows where they’ll go from there?

“Another goal we are working on is to be supportive of each other on and off the field,” Mabery added.

“We hope to achieve these goals by working hard, bonding together as one team, and making sacrifices for the good of the team.”

So far, she said the girls have displayed great chemistry.

“This season I am really looking to keep things positive, not dwell on mistakes and focus on what we are doing well,” she added.

“I really want to create a great environment where the girls are having fun playing, playing well and playing to win.”

Taking a gander at this season’s roster, Mabery said the Falcons have a lot of experience and depth, with several girls able to play multiple positions across the field.

Because of that, and the team’s commitment to quick and ready play, Mabery said the 2013-14 season should be an exciting one to follow.

“Fans can expect an even more aggressive, hard-working approach to soccer,” Mabery said.

“It will be a physically strong team and that is always fun to watch. We also have some very talented goal scorers, which will be the exciting part of the game to see what they can do on the offensive side.”