Girls Soccer
The girls soccer team (9-10-6, 3-2-3) played its most recent match against Valencia (10-7-3, 2-5-1) in a 1-1 tie on Feb 4. in the Empire League. After letting up a goal in the first five minutes of the game, the girls worked hard to recover. During the final quarter, senior midfielder Ava Torres dribbled down the sideline and shot over Valencia’s keeper successfully tying the game.
This was the team’s final league game, and ensured that they ended as the 2nd ranked team—qualifying them for CIF.
After winning the Empire League last year, the girls had high hopes for this season, especially considering that eleven of the players are graduating this year. Even though they didn’t place first, they are predicted to be in the Division 2 or 3 bracket. Brackets will be announced on Saturday Feb, 7 at 10 am.
Even though the team is losing many seniors, the girls will still have their backup keeper, and two of the starting midfielders—the key component to winning games. Juniors Kamryn Myers and Emily Sanchez have scored a combined total of 15 goals during their time on varsity, and made 13 assists.
Graduating captain Alynna Ortiz said that these players will make up for the loss of the seniors.
“We are losing a lot of seniors, but at the same time we will still have fundamental players,” Ortiz said.
Boys Soccer
Nearly walking away with a solo title in the closing moments of the match, the boys soccer team (8-6-4, 4-2-2) closed off their regular season with a 2-2 tie against Laguna Hills (8-3-5, 4-2-2) on Feb. 4. Despite finishing in a tie, the boys were electric, as they had previously lost to the Hawks 3-2 on Jan. 21.
In the first moments of the game, the Hawks’ forward Noah Morrison scored on a free kick putting Laguna Hills up 1-0, capitalizing on their home-field advantage and dominating the first half of the game. Around 30 minutes into the match they extended their lead, leaving Fullerton at a 2-0 deficit heading into halftime.
Going into the second half of the game, senior captain Luke Buehler scored, only to get the goal revoked due to a foul. The team felt defeated, and a win seemed impossible when junior defender Logan Maggio was given a red card, forcing Fullerton to play a man down for the remainder of the game.
However, instead of giving up, the team sharpened their focus, and senior midfielder Eddie Evaristo scored a critical penalty kick quickly after Maggio’s ejection.
This was the turning point for Fullerton, entirely shifting the team’s energy. With only 10 minutes left on the clock, senior striker Nicholas Ponce delivered a pass to forward Ibrahima Faye who scored to tie the game.
In the final five seconds, Ponce broke through their defense for a last attempt at earning one more goal. The Hawks’ goalkeeper Blake Reyes knocked the ball away to preserve the tie.
Reflecting on the team’s resilience, Ponce said that his focus during the game was to keep the team’s energy high even when the score wasn’t what they wanted it to be.
“I just try to help as much as possible,” said Ponce. “I try to be more positive to my team if they’re down. I try to help them out by keeping their spirits up.”
Both the Fullerton and Laguna Hills team finished the season as Golden West League co-champions, with matching league records. Fullerton now awaits their seeding for the CIF Southern Section playoffs, which begins next week.
