By Melanie Pineda
After a rough start this season, the Lady Knights soccer team got back on track with some impressive victories as first-year coach Danielle Ladezma had the girls working hard throughout the season in two-hour practices, Monday thru Thursday afternoons.
In early December, the team participated in the three-day Peoria Tune-up tournament (at Peoria High School). At the tournament, the Lady Knights won two out of three games by scores of 8-0 over Peoria High School and 6 – 1 over Vista Grande High School.
The Knights earned an important victory over Thunderbird (by a score of 3-2), which was especially sweet after last year’s 1-7 loss. Other noteworthy games included victories over Buckeye (5-2) and Moon Valley (1-0).
Something new this year for the team was having he opportunity to practice and play on St. Mary’s “home field” in Monterey Park.
Team members agree that scrimmaging was one of their favorite parts of practice. Senior Victoria Gomez said, “I loved playing and growing with my team on the field.
Another big change for the team this year was the addition of a new goalie, Arielle Losada. Although she had never played goalie before, Arielle quickly proved she was great for that position.
This year’s team captains were Miranda Castro, Annaliz Ruiz, Victoria Gomez, and Arianna Dominguez.
