The Somerville High School girls soccer team is on the verge of tournament qualification.

By Mike Rubin

Despite injuries and obstacles, the Somerville High School girls soccer team is on the verge of tournament qualification.

After suffering a tough 2-1 loss to Watertown, Somerville bounced back with a convincing 5-0 win over Latin Academy in a non Greater Boston League match last Wednesday. As of press time, the Highlanders currently stand at 6-5-3 overall.

In the Latin Academy victory, freshman Shianne Harrington recorded the game’s first goal, scoring midway through the first half off a feed by senior Jessica Menjivar. Minutes later, the Highlanders struck again for a 2-0 lead as freshman Ella Tyler scored on a tip-in off the far post by Natalie Henrique.

In the second half, the Highlanders secured the victory on another goal by Harrington followed by a tally by Karoline Nunes. Off a pass from Rachel Berry, Nunes fired a shot that landed short side. Earning the shutout was Kelsey Garrity, who stopped 10 shots.

“There were several players missing from action today, including a bunch who play in the same area of the field,” said coach Jason Lenicheck. “With all those players out, especially with so many of them playing in the same area of the field where they’d be able to cover for just one or two absences The good news is that the team has plenty of very talented players who have the flexibility to take on several roles.”

Despite a strong effort, the Highlanders suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Watertown in last Monday’s non-league match. Following a scoreless first half, the Highlanders grabbed a 1-0 lead in the opening minutes of the second, as Menjivar dished off a pass to Natalie Henrique, who recorded her 13th goal of the season.

In the final minutes, the Red Raiders shocked the Highlanders for a pair of goals to pull out the heartbreaker.

“It was a difficult score to take,” said Lenicheck. “I think we played quite well in most of the phases of the game: the goalkeeping was strong, the defense allowed too many through-balls but was good otherwise, the offense carried the attack to their net very effectively in the 2nd half, we did well both centrally and on the flanks. If we could have been either a little more crisp in front of their goal or if we had been a bit more disciplined and organized on our back line then we would have earned a tie. If we had done a bit of both, we would have won.”

The Highlanders faced off against Methuen on Monday and will battle Lowell on Wednesday.