It must be an exciting time to be a part of Seymour High School’s soccer programs.

With both the girls and boys teams in the sectional championships today against Columbus East, it’s hard to not recognize the accomplishments and strides the teams have made throughout the season.

While the girls’ team hasn’t had a winning record yet in 2015, they’ve climbed out of a mid-season hole which could have defined their campaign.

Starting their season at 3-3, trading wins and losses the entire way, the Owls dropped, or tied, the next six games to move to 3-6-3 on Sept. 19.

Speaking with girls’ coach Greg Musser, the Owls seemed to have lost their way in the middle of the schedule — they couldn’t find their identity.

The team struggled to maintain leads and win Hoosier Hills Conference matches.

However, something changed right when the Owls needed it most.

Beginning with a 3-1 victory against Jennings County on Sept. 22, the Owls found their confidence as they climbed to 6-8-3 to finish out the regular season.

Then, the Owls dominated their sectional semifinal game against Madison — a culmination of built-up frustrations, confidence and willingness to win.

They outshot the Cubs 32-0 and held possession for 70 percent of the game.

At no point was the winner of the match in question — Seymour dominated that semifinal match.

Last week, the Owls fell to East 1-0 in a closely contested game.

Musser said his team is confident going up against the Olympians.

He even hoped to draw them over Columbus North.

Should they Owls control the midfield, hold the back line, and feed their three-headed scoring attack of Marie Lenart, Maria Cerda and Andrea Ferrer, they will have a shot.

If such a thing as momentum exists in soccer, the Owls should feel good heading into tonight’s match, set to kick off at 7 p.m.

The last time the girls won a sectional was in 1997, and coincidentally the boys’ team also won a sectional that year.

The boys have the most wins under Matt Dennis in his four years with the Owls, standing at 11-5-2.

After starting the season 1-2, the Owls were able to claim a pair of wins at the Batesville Invitational to take home the trophy.

It seemed that the invitational spurred something in the Owls, who went 6-3-2 from Aug. 29 to Oct. 1.

Once the sectional matchup with Scottsburg rolled around, the Owls were prepared.

With a solid all-around group of guys, with no one definite superstar, the Owls have seen big successes from multiple members on the squad.

Take for example senior striker Martin Sebastian.

Leading up to sectional Scottsburg, the forward had two goals in the regular season.

Against the Warriors, Sebastian netted a hat trick in a 3-0 win.

In the semifinals, the Owls had goals from freshman Daniel Hartman, sophomore Brayan Morales and senior Kyle Jones.

Again, not one player taking the load, but a total team effort.

The biggest asset the Owls posses is unselfishness. They want to distribute the ball if it means getting a win.

For the Owls, the biggest difference-maker will be finishing in front of the goal.

At times, the Owls have struggled finding the back of the net with a handful of shots in the scorebook.

The shots can’t continually go high over the crossbar, they need to challenge East’s goalkeeper. The sectional championship will begin at 2 p.m. today.

In 2010, the Owls claimed a sectional under then-coach Will Smith.

It’s time for these teams to play with a chip on their shoulders and beat a Columbus school.

Regardless of the result, the Seymour soccer teams have a promising future behind an athletics program that has given its full-fledged support.

Jordan Morey is the sports editor at The Tribune. Send comments to [email protected].