Girls’ soccer starts from scratch

Coach: Ben Maxwell

2011 record: 3-8, tied 1

2011 recap: Team finished fourth out of seven teams and did not make CCS

Star players: Junior center midfielder Stephanie Ho, junior forward Lindsay Webster, senior goalie Aly Nilan

Key additions: Freshman Lauren Plesse, Kaitlyn and Kimberly Chen

Key games: Dec. 7 preseason game against Palo Alto, Jan. 4 against defending CCS champion Mountain View

With new coach Ben Maxwell and many talented freshman players, the girls’ soccer team is rebuilding this year after the loss of key seniors from last year, such as graduates Kari Clark and Meghana and Antara Rao.

“We had six to seven seniors who moved on who were very talented, so the squad will be new and young, and it’s going to have to grow up very quickly,” Maxwell said. 

Although the girls have a tough season ahead of them, they hope to put away the struggles from previous years and focus their energy on opening the season with big wins.  The girls will be playing in the De Anza division with schools such as Monta Vista, Los Altos, Homestead and Los Gatos.

“The image from other schools’ perspective about our girls’ program is that it has been a bit of a joke, and that it’s not being taken seriously,” Maxwell said. “We want to create something that has not yet been created which is long term. We want people to look at this as a top soccer program.”

Maxwell said that he will strive to build a base from which the team can improve by ensuring consistency.

“The goal to start with is to start off consistently. If we finish at the bottom of our division, we would be moved down, and we would see this as a massive failure,” Maxwell said. “People need to understand that for us to create something special, we have to start off consistent, and hopefully build from there.”

Maxwell adds that he has already set standards for himself and the team and expects all the girls to “execute the basics of soccer consistently.”

As a coach for West Valley and the De Anza Force Soccer Club in the past, Maxwell said he wants to create a positive environment for the players to work hard.

“We want every player to listen and every player to try hard,” Maxwell said. “Players will not try hard for a coach that they do not like, so [I] want to be likeable and approachable but also still have that slight bit of fear so people will not mess around. We want to create this positive environment where anything if we work hard, we will get results.”