Sophomore strives to achieve her goals

Only a few seconds remained on the clock before halftime during a preseason soccer game against Carlmont High last year. The score was tied 0-0. Sophomore Lauren Plesse raced down the field with the ball her feet, her face intense, eyes unblinking.

“My adrenaline was going, and I was only focused on putting the ball in the net, and when the ball went in the net my teammates and I came together and excitedly celebrated,” Plesse said. “Moments like these are ones that I will never forget.” 

This goal was the first of Plesse’s many goals playing as a freshman on the school’s varsity team last year. 

Plesse has been playing soccer ever since she was 4 years old. Her passion for the sport motivated her to join her first club team, De Anza Force, when she was 8. She now plays right wing and center forward for club soccer year-round, and center midfield on the school team.   

“It’s a really great experience to play high school soccer,” Plesse said. “Especially to play as an underclassman, I got to know and make relationships with a bunch of upperclassman who are really nice and really good.” 

Plesse first got involved in the sport when her dad pushed her to join AYSO, a local recreational league, so that she could play with her older brother. Ever since then, she has continued to play through high school because she “likes the competitiveness of the sport.”

Even now, Plesse said her dad continues to motivate her to get better.

“On weekends, when I don’t have soccer practice, we go to Congress Springs or the high school to work on certain techniques I should improve on,” Plesse said.

Although she has no aspirations to play soccer professionally, she said she wants to play at the college level. Plesse’s priorities in college will be split equally between keeping up with school and playing soccer.

Plesse’s teammate, junior Anisha Nagarajan, said that even though Plesse was only a freshman last year, she was a key starter on the team.

“[Plesse] is a center midfielder and what their position does is very integral to the team,” Narayan said. “And the way our school team plays is we do a lot of defense passes to midfielders and the midfielders to the forwards, so running the midfield [is important].”

Nagarajan added that Plesse is especially good at finding the ball and making impressive runs across the field.

“She’s really fierce,” Narayan said. “Even though she looks like this sweet, little girl, she can be scary on the field.”

Plesse said that the most inspirational moment for her during the last season was the team’s epic defeat against rival Los Gatos.

“Our goal through the season was to make sure that we compete with Los Gatos and give them a run for their money, and we  actually did that,” Plesse said. “My goals were to try my best and compliment the team and come out with a win.”

And Plesse, with the help of her teammates, did just that.   

“It was also really exciting because it was our Senior Night and the crowd was really energetic, especially playing under the lights at night,” Plesse recalled. “You always want to score goals, but my main ‘goal’ is always to make sure you come out with a win.”