By Erik Koland
The Los Altos High School girls soccer team swept the El Camino league in grand fashion Tuesday, dominating Wilcox 9-0.
The Eagles play was every bit as convincing as the score indicates. Wilcox had virtually no time of possession. The Eagles (12-0 league, 18-1 overall) stayed perpetually on the attack and always in control. They spaced, protected and passed brilliantly, just as they’ve done all season.
“We play as team,” said Los Altos coach Erin Montoya. “We have a lot of versatile players. We’re deep.”
Depth is a major part of the team’s success, according to Montoya. Losing star sophomore Margueritte Aozasa midway through — with a severe knee injury at U.S. National Team training camp — and with a total of five starters sitting out with injuries in the game, the Eagles chemistry and winning ways have been unaffected.
“We know each other very well,” said Aozasa, a crutch under each arm. “We’re strong all around, very balanced.”
The Eagles were unquestionably superior in every facet of the game this year. Offensively, they scored 73 goals in league play. Defensively, they allowed only a single goal in 12 league games, and that was in a 9-1 victory. The Eagles outscored their opponents 95-5 in the season overall.
Fittingly, on Senior Appreciation Night, which honors the graduating seniors’ last home game, Los Altos was led once again by forward Jaqueline D’Innocenti and midfielder Lauren Glazebrook. The seniors scored five of Los Altos’ nine points, with Glazebrook netting two shots in the first half and D’Innocenti rocketing in three more in the second.
“She is a great leader. She does what it takes to win,” said Montoya. “There isn’t a ball she doesn’t think she can get to.”
Despite its majority of players being underclassmen, the team appears to be very mature and poised, excelling on and off the field.
“Eight of the 15 girls have 4.0 grade point averages,” said Montoya. “And everyone else has at least, or near, a 3.5. They’re great scholar-athletes.”
According to parents and players, much of the teams’ success on the field comes from the experience the girls gained playing club soccer. Eleven of the girls play on the nationally ranked MVLA Mercury team,and another four play on the high-caliber MVLA Galaxy team.
According to D’Innocenti, the cohesiveness that comes with playing together on the club teams is a major advantage for the Eagles.
“We know how to play with each other,” she explained.
CCS next week
Teams that dominate in a lower league often fall short in the Girls CCS Soccer Playoffs, either because they weren’t as good as upper-league competition or because they lost focus after playing so many easy games.But the Eagles girls have played (and won) at the highest levels of club soccer, and are playing like a team no one would want to face in CCS — intense, composed and determined.
The Girls CCS Soccer Playoffs begin next Tuesday, Feb. 14. Seeding had not yet been established as of press time.
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