The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

Girls Soccer Clinches Second In League

The varsity girls soccer team won 1-0 against Homestead last Friday, February 14 and fell to Los Gatos 0-3 on Wednesday, February 19. The team’s loss to Los Gatos came in both its last league game and last overall game before CCS and closes Los Altos’ league record at 7-2-3.

The competition to secure the league title only recently saw the Spartans break ahead of the pack and take the title. In the games leading up to the end of the league season, four schools (Los Altos, Los Gatos, Mountain View and Palo Alto) remained in championship contention. The Eagles would have had to defeat both the Mustangs and the Wildcats to take the league title.

The Eagles now enter CCS as the De Anza Division’s second place finishers, with rival Mountain View sitting atop the division (7-0-5). Los Gatos ended league close behind, with a 7-3-2 record.

Homestead
Friday’s home win against Homestead can largely be attributed to a strong team defense.

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“It isn’t just the defenders who defend, it’s everyone on the field, and one of our strengths this year is that we work together very well to defend the other team’s attack,” junior Rebecca Andrews said. “Team defense involves forcing the other team’s players into situations where we have the advantage. This is why it’s been very important for our team to work hard on defense all over the field, and it’s really paid off for us.”

This defense oriented gameplay allowed the Eagles to keep the Mustangs from scoring the whole game. Senior Sophia Hyver went on to score a goal in the second half to secure a win.

With seniors Julia Goupil and Paige Eller and freshmen Quinne and Megan Wooley as the team’s starting defenders, the team has seen seven shutouts this season, including the one against Homestead.

“Julia is an amazing defender and is definitely the rock of the team,” Rebecca said. “We wouldn’t be a defensively minded team and have success if we didn’t have a player like Julia who could make tackles and win headers and play out of the back.”

Los Gatos
In Wednesday’s final league game against Los Gatos, however, the Wildcats proved to be tough competition, despite the Eagles having pulled off a 1-0 victory against Los Gatos earlier in the season.

“Right from the beginning, Los Gatos dominated the game,” junior Nicole Atkins said.

The Wildcats scored once in the first half and would go on to score twice more in the second.

“We battled with intensity and had many excruciatingly close opportunities, but in the end our efforts came to no avail,” Nicole said.

Nevertheless, the Eagles remain focused on the present and are determined to perform at CCS. Los Altos will be returning as the defending CCS champion against a host of hungry competitors, including the Spartans.

“I, for one, remain optimistic for our CCS future and I believe if we come out with the same persistence and focus we have showed in the past, we should go very far,” Nicole said.

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