Girls’ soccer comes up short in CCS

Entering CCS with a 10-0-2 record and winners of the De Anza League, the girls’ soccer team lost in the first round of CCS to Burlingame 3-0 at home on Feb. 23. The team made it to the quarterfinals of CCS last season and had hopes of finishing higher this year.

Senior defender Laura Mighdoll said the team always tried their best to improve with each game.

“We gave it all we had in the CCS game, but in the end we just couldn’t get a goal in,” Mighdoll said.

The team felt nervous entering the CCS game and didn’t get into their groove until 30 minutes in. By then, however, the Panthers had already scored two goals. The last goal was scored in the last 3 minutes of the game.

“The other team’s players were a lot bigger and stronger,” junior midfielder Anna Ashe said. “There wasn’t really anything we could do better physical-wise. We worked our hardest and tired ourselves out completely.”

Key players for the Falcon defense this season were senior defender Ren Norris, junior defenders Antara and Meghana Rao, and sophomore defender Megan Doles. Leading the offense was junior forward Sneha Shivkumar, junior midfielders Kari Clark and Courtney Brandt and freshman forward Lindsay Webster.

The girls’ last home game against Fremont, and their senior day celebrating seniors Ren Norris, Mckenzi Crase, Laura Mighdoll and Meera D’Costa, ended in a 1-0 win for the Falcons. Junior Anna Ashe scored the only goal when she headed in a corner kick from Clark.

“Senior day was really fun,” Mighdoll said. “They dressed us up as Teletubbies at school, and we had a great game against Fremont.”

The team felt a landmark game was playing Milpitas for the second time on Feb. 9. Despite having several chances to score, Milpitas held the Falcons at a standstill, ending the game 0-0.

“We played really well that game, even though we tied,” Ashe said. “That outcome allowed us to win the league, so we we were pretty excited.”

The girls attribute their season’s success to new head coach Molly Flanagan.

“Molly really made a difference this year,” Brandt said. “We would not have had such a great season without her.”

Despite their short-lived run in CCS, the team is satisfied with their undefeated league record and overall performance this season.

“This was an amazing last season for me and I couldn’t have asked for a better team to finish high school with,” Mighdoll said.