After playing around .500 all season, the Cal High women’s varsity soccer team is hoping to secure a spot in the NCS playoffs next week.
The team has sat in the top six of the EBAL standing this season.
The team has an overall record of 7-7-4 overall, including a 3-4-2 record in league play. This was good enough for sixth place as of Feb. 10.
Cal ended the month of January well by shutting out Dougherty and Livermore by a combined score of 9-0, but the girls lost close games to Foothill and Carondelet last week.
“It’s important for us to keep that streak of competing in NCS especially because we’ve worked so hard this season,” sophomore standout Lola Cervantes said. “I think being able to move forward to NCS would motivate us for next year.”
The team highlights junior Hayley Hamilton, senior Emma Liu and senior Kayla Villarde as their three captains, as well as junior Maddy Feick, who is the team’s leading scorer.
The girls all take on different qualities as captains, each as necessary as the last.
“Emma brings a super good energy to our team, Kayla is great at instructing everyone,” sophomore Makayla Nenonene said. “Hayley works super hard for the team and is honestly a really great leader.”
Head coach Nina Cefalo said the Grizzlies are well balanced and their personality shines throughout the team as they are focused, funny, and have great leadership. The support within the team is evident, and despite the weight of the expectation, the girls have learned to take the little improvements within their team dynamic matter just as much as the big wins.
“There [has been] some adversity throughout [these] games I think the team really bonded over,” Cefalo said. “I’m hoping us having each other’s back will translate forward.”
The team also knows what it means to win and how big of a contribution they make to the integrity Cal’s sports culture.
“At Cal High, there is a very big mentality of we’ll do anything to win,” Cefalo said. “I think it’s really cool to try and emulate that.”