Garden City girls soccer keeps knocking off Division 1 opponents

The playoffs are still a month away, but the Cougars (7-0-1, 2-0-0) have been playing like a team motivated to right some wrongs when it’s win-or-go-home time.

Sure, they’re undefeated. But what’s more impressive is who they’ve beaten. They already have four wins against D-1 opponents. They’ve downed Livonia Churchill, Wyandotte Roosevelt, Westland John Glenn and Livonia Franklin, outscoring those four 16-3 with two shutouts.

“These games are definitely different from our conference or district games,” said senior Maya Edwards, who scored a goal and assisted on two others vs. the Eagles. “Winning these games and playing against bigger teams definitely brings up our confidence, especially seeing a majority of our starting lineup and bench players get goals. That definitely brings up our confidence and gets us ready for districts.”

Garden City's Avery Klemola shoots during a Western Wayne Athletic Conference girls soccer match on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at Redford Thurston High School.

Facing stiff competition also makes Racine’s job easier.

It’s hard to find things to work on when they’re trouncing league opponents by a dozen goals. But when you’re facing a school almost twice your size, that’s when growth occurs.

His goal is to find at least one thing the team can work on and improve each day. He calls that “doing their 1%s,” the idea being that if they get 1% better every day, that growth will show when the playoffs roll around.

“We do a lot of fitness and like to get touches on the ball and work on our 1%,” said junior Avery Klemola, who also scored against Thurston. “The process is just about trying to get better each day, improving ourselves and how we play as a team together.”

And they’re certainly playing like a team, which is why they’re knocking off bigger schools and playing tough D-2 teams like Trenton to a 3-3 tie.

“A lot of these girls are in their third year playing together as a varsity team,” Racine said. “We’ve been fortunate that we’ve had a lot of time to develop together and learn our tendencies and systems. Instead of starting over each year, we’re just working on making 1% improvements each day.”

Garden City's Maya Edwards sails a cross into the penalty box during a Western Wayne Athletic Conference girls soccer match on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at Redford Thurston High School.

The challenges won’t stop, with two more matchups against D-1 schools Belleville and Livonia Stevenson coming up, plus a regular-season finale against defending D-2 state runner-up New Boston Huron.

“We were not happy with the way our season ended last year, so we want to put ourselves in a position where we need to prove something,” Racine added. “We came into this season motivated to improve upon the things we need to improve on, and we’re off to a good start, but it’s still early. We’re working on trying to prove ourselves because, yeah, we’re a D-2 school, but we’re just as good as any other team out there.”

Garden City's Makinly Jerore shoots during a Western Wayne Athletic Conference girls soccer match on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at Redford Thurston High School.

Of course, Garden City will get to see just how good it is when districts arrive.

The Cougars have a stacked draw that includes Divine Child, Mercy and Dexter, along with Thurston, Walled Lake Western and Ypsilanti. It’s one of the most competitive districts in the state, yet they’re not backing down. They don't want another heartbreaking bus ride home like they had last season.

“I don’t know how the district drawings happen, but it doesn’t matter,” Racine said. “We get matched up with who we get matched up against. We’re just going to go out there and do our best. We view it as a challenge, and that’s something we’re never going to back away from.”

Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on his new X.com account at @folsomwrites.

This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Garden City girls soccer beats Redford Thurston, 12-0