by Brittany Sa

Woodbridge High School’s Varsity Girls’ soccer team concluded their 2016 season, going 12-8 on the season, and 10-4 in conference games, under the tutelage of Coach Mortensen.

This season, the team had to get used to a new group of starters as a majority of them from the previous year had graduated. Their three senior captains, Sophia Gomez, Jordan Vasquez, and Jenn Altman, were, according to Jenn, responsible to ensure that “[all 11 girls] are striving for the same outcome and working their hardest and being dedicated to the team.”

Coach Mortensen, who knew the talent he had, moved senior Jordan Vasquez, one of the team’s most prolific scorers last year, to the net, as she rebounded from surgery to repair a torn ACL, and put faith in his team to continue scoring goals. “Our motto this year was ‘All In,’ where it’s not going to be one person that’s going to be leading us to our goals; it takes a collective group,” he said.

The girls had been practicing and preparing themselves for this season since the week after school ended, and although these practices weren’t mandatory, they each made an effort to better themselves.  To most of the girls, soccer means everything, as they have been playing since they were five years-old. “Soccer is the basis of my happiness… it made me realize what confidence I had inside of me as a person, that taking risks and making mistakes are okay,” Jenn Vasquez said.

Being timid on the field for these ladies is unheard of; they played aggressively, with their heads high, and their only goal, in each game, was to leave the field with a win. “We take [our] weaknesses from a previous game, then we do something to improve on it,” said Coach Mortensen. “What [we] do in practice represents what [we] are going to do at the game.”

Although they give it their all, Sophia says, “I honestly feel like that the most important thing about high school sports [is that] if everyone is happy, then I’m doing my job.”

As the season drew to a close, the seniors were reluctantly preparing their goodbyes. “It’s an honor to be a part of such a great team for my senior year. I’m going to miss them a lot next year,” said Jordan.

“I do love my team so much, and I’m so glad I do what I love with my closest friends,” said Sophia.

“We are a very dedicated group of girls that have a love and passion for the game… I believe we are the best in our division when we bring 100%,” said Jenn. Every single day each girl put in their all, and although they missed their goal this year, they are still encouraged by the school to never give up and continue reaching past their expectations.