Girls’ soccer team falls to Santa Cruz in CCS semifinals

The girls’ soccer team victoriously poses after a 2-1 CCS quarterfinals win against Sequoia High School.

Ending the regular season with an 11-0-1 record, the girls’ soccer team placed at the top of their league and earned a spot in the CCS Division 1 playoffs. 

In the quarterfinals home game against Sequoia on Feb. 19, the Falcons triumphed in a 2-1 victory with goals from sophomore forward Kate Obensourse and senior midfielder Lauren Yarrington. 

“It was a pretty tough game, and the second half was a lot of defending,” senior defender and co-captain Emma Foley said. “It was a very nitty gritty and scrappy game.”

Moving onto semifinals, the team played on the home field of Santa Cruz High on Feb. 23. The Falcons fell 5-2 and were eliminated. Both goals were scored by senior forward Anjali Nuggehalli in the first half of the game on set plays.

While the loss was a disappointing end to an otherwise successful season, Foley said that she was proud of the team’s effort, as Santa Cruz ultimately “built out better and had a more coordinated midfield.”

Foley and senior co-captains Casey Gilligan and Lauren Yarrington expressed pride in how the girls came together and advanced as far as they did. Unlike previous years, there was no JV team, but players all had club soccer experience. Although the increased number of members led to a lack of individual playing time for some players, Foley believes that the team had a great attitude overall.

“I think the players, especially the freshmen who didn’t get a lot of playing time, always had a good morale and whenever they got a chance to go on the field, they always gave it their all,” Foley said. “Losing was definitely disappointing, but I feel like our team really lived up to our potential and achieved so much, which made us really proud.”