Jordan Pena had an interesting end to her four years on the Fountain Hills High School girls soccer team. Pena was the only senior celebrated on senior night last Wednesday, Jan. 25, and the Falcons beat Highland Prep (3-9) 4-2 that day.

Pena didn’t play in any of the three games last week because of concussion protocol, and she wasn’t the only injury of the week. Pena hoped to be able to play the final game of the year against Madison Highland (2-8), yesterday, Tuesday, Jan. 31, but it seemed unlikely by press time.

“What’s going through my head is, not being able to play, not being able to touch the ball anymore is just really emotional for me because I’ve been on the team for four years,” Pena said. “It’s just hard for me but I’m glad I’m able to watch them play right now.”

Pena wasn’t the only senior at the start of the season, and Liv Sopeland did show up on senior night to support her classmate. Sopeland left the team earlier in the season for a new job, and Sopeland had spent the past three seasons on the team as well.

The Falcons wanted to win for their senior, but they had to come back from behind. Junior goalkeeper Jeneya Boone came out of the game with an injury for a while after allowing the first goal, and freshman Jayden Dunkeson took over goalkeeping. The Falcons regained the lead quickly, and Boone returned to the field in the second half.

The Falcons went 0-10 last year and Pena said she didn’t have any expectations at the beginning of the year. The Falcons went 1-2 last week and Pena watched the losses to Northwest Christian and Scottsdale Christian from the bench. She talked with her team and did her best to stay positive, given the circumstances.

“My motivation is definitely the girls, especially the juniors right now,” Pena said. “Like Hailey [Chandler] and Erin [Hooley], I’m going to miss them, and I want to be there for them because I want to have a soccer season, especially for them so they can continue for next year.”

The 8-0 and 9-0 losses to No. 11 Northwest Christian (7-3) and No. 20 Scottsdale Christian Academy (5-5) were tough, but Friday’s loss to the Eagles seemed unavoidable. The Falcons started the game with six eligible players, and head coach Malcolm Cutting asked for the game to end when freshman Paula Graber went down with an injury.

Graber was able to walk on her own power afterward, and the Falcons hope to have more people for their final game against Madison Highland. Cutting is the third coach Pena has had in her four years with the team, but she thinks he’s a great fit for the program.

“He has that dedication, especially for the girls,” Pena said. “He’s always happy, he wants everyone to be positive. He takes the time with us and he doesn’t get mad or anything. If we make a mistake, he doesn’t let us get down on ourselves and that’s a good thing for a coach.”

Cutting coached boys and girls this year and he recruited his own daughter as an assistant for the girls. The Falcons went 0-10 last year, so getting at least three wins with even less people this year was a step in the right direction.

The Falcons were 10-4 in both Pena’s freshman and sophomore seasons, and they made playoffs both years. Her freshman year, 2019-2020, the Falcons had 15 rostered players and eight of them were freshmen. Some moved away, and others tried different sports, but Pena said the roster issues stem from the school’s size.

“It’s because we have such a small school,” Pena said. “People want to adventure out at other schools and see what else they can achieve.”

The Falcons only had two freshmen this year, Graber and Dunkeson, but they had several players new to the team. Sophomores Sara Dethlefs, Lucia Kalmbach and Zoe Kohoutek were all new this year, and only Dethlefs had played high school soccer before.

Kalmbach and Erin Hooley each joined the team late. Hooley joined the team the day of their first game, and Kalmbach joined the next week. They brought the total number up to 11, which is the required number of players on the field, and Hooley even had a hat trick in the 4-0 victory over Anthem Prep.

Looking back on her last two years, Pena is happy to see optimism in the soccer program after a few wins. She stuck it out the last two years and will continue to support her teammates even if she’s not allowed to play in the finale.

“Honestly, I just learned to stick through it, just to have fun,” Pena said. “If there’s a difficult path, I’ll overcome it. Especially with everyone here, we do have a lot of rookies, but they are doing really well, especially Lucia and Jayden. I’ve seen a lot of improvement with them, and I think that’s going to be very beneficial if they continue next year.”