This season brought its shares of highs and lows for the varsity girls soccer team as they welcomed eight new underclassmen to the squad. After losing 10 seniors last season, this year was all about rebuilding as the new Eagles worked their way up to starting positions. 

“This was definitely a learning season for us,” Head Coach Jacob Valadez said. “The team was learning lessons every game. Despite not having a great winning percentage, we didn’t get blown out that often, so there’s a lot of positives and hopes moving forward.”

The team started the season with four losses. After that tough start, the team leveled out — winning around half of the following games. Although Los Altos fell from first in the league last year to fifth this year, the season had many notable victories. 

Some of the Eagles’ highlights included avenging a loss against Homestead High School with a 2–1 win on Thursday, January 29. The Eagles also took down the Mountain View High School Spartans, with a 1–0 victory in both rivalry games. 

Off the field, the team bonded through beach trips and boba runs.

“There’s a different energy this year on the team with a lot more underclassmen,” sophomore Brooke Neschleba said. “I think the team is more connected this year, and I’d say that everyone gets along well.”

The difficult preseason partially stemmed from younger players adjusting to the new level of competition. 

“The start of the season was a shock for the young players,” Valadez said. “But by the season’s end, they were able to say, ‘I got this, I can get out there, and I can complete.’ I think that’s what it’s all about when it’s your first time on varsity – realizing you have to believe in yourself and your teammates and knowing that together, you can win.”

The team celebrated its senior night at home against the Palo Alto High School Vikings on Saturday, February 14. The Eagles came out of the gate fighting, but only 15 minutes into the first half, team captain senior Anya Lin was injured and substituted out. With a key player missing in the middle, the Eagles played catch up for the game, which ultimately ended with a 1–0 loss against the Vikings. The team didn’t allow this to overshadow celebrating the seniors, who each received flowers, cake, and gifts afterward. 

“The seniors are role models for me,” Brooke said. “They always bring a fun energy to practice and work hard – playing all together one last time was nice.”

“This class is the first I’ve coached since they were freshmen so this was my first time seeing all the girls grow and mature over the four years,” Valadez said. “I’m so proud and feel lucky to be able to share that with them, so it got a little bit more emotional on senior night this year.”

Despite missing key players, Los Altos ended its season against the Spartans on Wednesday, February 18. With a chance at moving up to third place and advancing to CCS, the Eagles came together one last time and gave one of their best performances, beating Mountain View 1–0. However, the results of other league games and one Los Altos tie 1–1 earlier in the season left the team taking fifth in league. Though this meant the team didn’t move on, the win was a positive end to a rebuilding season. 

“We were all tired from the long season, but it was the last game, so we put everything we had into it,” freshman Fernanda Mendieta said. 

At the end of the season, senior Tyra Bogan was nominated goalkeeper of the year for the De Anza League, and Anya was selected for the first All-League team. Brooke and Fernanda were also picked on the second All-League team. 

With this season over, the Eagles are already looking toward the next one. According to Valadez, goal-scoring was one of the Eagles’ main weaknesses this season. However, many underclassmen will be returning next year to improve.

“This season, we were hoping things would swing a little differently because we were only one win away from finishing in the top three in the league,” Valadez said, “But with this younger group over the next two or three years — we can turn this into something really competitive, and really special.”