By GARY LEE
STAFF WRITER
On Wednesday, Feb. 19, girl’s soccer suffered a decisive loss to Sierra Canyon HS with a score of 0-3.
After numerous matches, both the Wildcats and Trailblazers were set to compete in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) quarterfinals. However, because of the loss, this match marks the conclusion of the girls’ season and their journey in CIF.
Remarkably, this is the farthest the team has ever made within CIF, making history for the girls’ record. In addition, the team also concludes with a 10-0 league victory.
In light of such results, girls’ soccer head coach Manny Amezquita explains that although the result may be disheartening, it does not change the way he feels about the team.
“I am really proud of the fact that we were able to make the quarterfinals; it was the furthest we have gone anytime we went to CIF. I do also feel like we could have done more since we should have been able to beat that team and move on, so I am a little disappointed in the fact that we were not able to pull in the results. [However], when I look at the bigger picture I feel better about it,” Amezquita said. “The way that these girls played, the leadership that all of our seniors took just to drive each and everyone one of our players to give their all every season really brings the best feelings out of me out of everybody knowing that we didn’t leave anything in the tank.”
Looking back, forward Julia Gomez (11) felt that the team really gave it their all this game.
“Even though we lost, I felt like it was a good game as this is our first time [competing] in division four and I think getting into the quarterfinals is a really big accomplishment,” Gomez said. “We were practicing every day and going over our set plays as well as doing research on the other team to see if they have any good players.”
Similarly, center-back Mia Garcia (10) reflects on the team’s performance and is proud of the girls’ progress.
“We came a long way from the beginning as we did not do so well at the start and could have played better,” Garcia said.
“Though in the second half of the season, we really started to turn things around and hit it a lot harder during practices, resulting in us doing better in our games.”
It became apparent that Garcia understands what her team went through.
“I feel really great about the game [because] we played our hardest and left it all on the table, which all you can really ask for in a team,” Garcia said.
Overall, the girls played extremely well this season and will continue in high spirits for next season.