Soccer teams finish strong

Feb 27, 2019 | News, On Campus, Soccer, Sports

The girls varsity team, in its second year of existence and its first year of league eligibility, ended their season on a high note in the CCS Division V Girls Soccer Quarterfinals. Although they are not in the running for the CCS title, the girls have come a long way, becoming PSAL champions within a year.

“[It’s] really cool to see the underclassmen have the opportunity to be on the girl’s team,” says Sophia Yang (12), a player who started on the boys team and is now one of three captains of the varsity girls soccer team. “[We’ve] achieved being a community together and have lots of support.”

The boys team placed second last year in their division, and ended the 2018-2019 season with a record of 10-5-1 compared to 8-3-3 from last year. Team captain Benjamin Cheng (12) says that they maintained their undefeated status through a “united way of thinking and playing.”

“After finishing second last year, we expected to be very competitive this season,” Cheng said.

The united mindset is also present in the girls team. According to Eva Smolen (9), who plays on girls varsity, all upperclassmen have been “very welcoming and supportive” to freshmen who are now able to join a fully formed team that plays a full season in an actual league.

[We] started the season positively, and we believed that winning was the target, which became a real possibility.

Yang and Cheng both agreed that, as captains, seeing the growth within the team and its players has been a core part of how they feel as the leaders.

“Having played for three years, being captain my senior year is important to me because it shows how everyone I’ve played with in the past—especially the current seniors—has shown some growth,” Cheng said.

Halfway through the season, both teams are came back from winter break with 4-0 records, placing them at the number one position in the PSAL. Unfortunately, the boys lost their chance to compete for the PSAL title.

On the other hand, the girls continued to be the strongest team in their league and qualified for the CCS playoffs; however, they did not advance to the second round of playoffs.