San Lorenzo Valley senior Jessica Stoelting notched her sixth goal of the season to help lift the Cougar girls’ soccer team past Harbor for a 1-0 victory in Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League play Tuesday afternoon.
Fellow teammate sophomore Danielle Stiles was credited with the assist, while senior goalkeeper Cheyenne Casey tallied four saves for the shutout.
SLV improved to 1-2 in league play, and currently own a 2-7 overall record this season.
First-year head coach Kim Lyons said her group plays with heart and there are no individual egos. But she also mentioned how the Cougars are usually seen as the underdogs, always playing on their heels and attempting not to lose instead of aiming for a victory.
That’s something she plans to change right away.
“We have skin in the game this year, these girls are all there for one another,” Lyons said.
So far, Lyons has been impressed with the players’ willingness to keep their head in the game, even when they’re trailing.
“They do not quit. They are tenacious, and they don’t turn on one another,” Lyons said.
Some of those qualities showed in their 3-1 loss to Soquel in the team’s league-opener Jan. 14. After trailing 2-0 going into the second half, Stoelting scored one goal for SLV that cut the deficit into half.
“I just gave it a little flick over the goalie,” she said. “It was just keep doing what we’re doing. Get a little bit more fire in us. We’re out here, we just gotta keep it up. And after that goal, we were in it.”
Despite the loss, Stoelting said she was proud of the way her teammates played throughout the contest. Senior Betsy Edwards was credited with the assist, and Casey had 10 saves in the loss to the Knights.
“Every single game we play, we get better and we work together better as a team,” Casey said after last week’s game against Soquel. “This was only our first [league] season game. We’re just gonna get better from here.”
They have a limited roster of just 16 active players, which is an ongoing occurrence at the school. Lyons said she’s in the process of developing a program, not just a team.
Lyons has a strong coaching staff in former head coaches Kim Petersen and Art Muñoz, and Chantel Long to help accomplish this goal along with several others.
“We’re grinding to try to get athletes out there and trying to develop this program,” she said. “It’s definitely been easier because this group of girls is so welcoming and encouraging of one another.”
This year’s seniors include team captains Stoelting and Naomi Sifton along with Edwards, Casey, Jayden Johson, Abi Gabrielson and Ruby Nunns. The juniors are led by Asha Hudson, Avie Long and team captain Simone Mugnier.
The underclassmen are well represented by sophomores Stiles, Samantha Lyons, Jenna Stover, Chloe Shiner, Evelyn Beasley and Natalia Rocha, and freshmen Dahlia Cardenas and Kendyl Richardson.
Lyons said Stoelting has major leadership qualities and she challenges her teammates. Especially the newcomer, Richardson, who plays at the top with Stoelting.
“[Stoelting’s] really vocal on the field, she commands her position,” Lyons said. “She’s not afraid to ask for the ball. She challenges Kendyl.”
Lyons said Richardson has always been the biggest fish in her own age group, so playing at the varsity level can be daunting and intimidating.
“Jess [Stoelting] is like, no, you’ve got this,” Lyons said. “Again, it goes back to them being the most supportive, true team that I’ve ever coached.”
Stoelting said they grew up together, and they have a bond between each other that can be shown on the pitch.
“We just got to work hard,” Stoelting said. “We’re usually underdogs. We just gotta maybe fight through that name and take a little initiative.”
With the exception of two players, most of them came straight in from competitive soccer. Lyons said it makes a big difference in terms of fitness and touches on the ball. She added that overall field IQ can get rusty if they’re not playing year-round soccer.
“They’re in that mindset and it’s really nice,” said Lyons, who coaches some of the players during the competitive season. “They’re used to our coaching style.”
On top of having a small roster, Lyons said other major challenges this season is keeping everybody healthy. It’s also getting the inexperienced players accustomed to playing at a higher level.
Sifton and Richardson each had one goal, while Lyons was credited with one assist in SLV’s 8-2 loss to Aptos in league action Jan. 16.
“The level of play, speed of the game, the physicality of the game at this level is eye opening,” Lyons said. “Even comp, even NPL, highest levels of [competition] soccer, they’re playing with women who are going to be potentially [NCAA] Division I players next year.”
SLV played at Scotts Valley on Jan. 23. Game results were not available prior to this publication’s deadline. Next up, the Cougars host Santa Cruz on Jan. 28 at 3:30pm.
Lyons said they’ll just continue to move on and keep reviewing film for upcoming opponents, making corrections and changes along the way.
“We’re not going to try to lose less this year, we are going to go in with the mindset that we can win,” Lyons said. “We have to believe in each other, and that’s our motto.”
