Story by Nicolette Sarmiento
Assistant Editor-in-Chief
After their regular season packed with a lot of training, 104 goals, and the victories that came with them, the Lady Lancers have made their mark in Amat history.
With an outstanding goal from sophomore Natalie Rivas and impenetrable defense by juniors Jessie Gener and Alyssa Cabral, the girls varsity soccer team has made Amat history with their first ever CIF Championship win, defeating the Ayala Bulldogs on Friday at Warren High School.
Going into the game, the Lady Lancers held a record of 27-1 and were favored to lose to the Bulldogs, the only team that had defeated the Lancers, 6-2, in the regular season.
To be fair, the Lancers were missing key starters in their defense in that loss. Other than that, their record is and remains flawless.
Before the match up, senior Chelsea Villegas described her feelings toward the rematch.
“I’m nervous and excited to play them again because we finally have a chance to prove that we’re the better team,” Villegas said.
She wasn’t the only one who was vying for revenge. Sophomore captain Yazmin Montoya wasn’t worried about being the underdog.
“I like being the underdog,” Montoya said. “We have grown a lot as a team & we use that compatibility to play on the field & go as far as we’ve gone.”
The Lady Lancers proved all doubters wrong in their performance.
Throughout the entire game, there was aggressive defense along with questionable calls against the Lancers. However, the girls dominated the field with longer possession than the Bulldogs.
In the 26th minute, Jessie Gener sent a free kick into the penalty area where Natalie Rivas back-headed it into the left post and through for the score, giving the Lancers a 1-0 lead.
From then on, the Lady Lancers never let up. The defense kept the Ayala forward Mackenzy Doniak from getting any good shots on goal.
As the second half ensued, the tension grew between both teams. Junior Selena Quezada, junior Alyssa Cabral, and Natalie Rivas all received yellow cards.
The Bulldogs started to panic as the clock continued to run. Their frustration grew and resulted in two yellow cards after one Ayala player pulled down Rivas.
The Lancers prevailed in the end, giving them their first CIF title ever in Amat’s history.
Advancing to the Division II CIF Regionals, the Lady Lancers traveled Monday to face Frontier, Bakersfield.
They defeated the Titans with goals from sophomores Katie Zamora and Natalie Rivas.
The ladies were motivated and unwilling to let up.
Traveling San Diego to face the Vikings of La Jolla High School for Round 2 of the State Playoffs, the Lancers struggled and fell 2-0.
Natalie Rivas says that though their season is over, they are far from sad.
“We were tired anyway,” Rivas said after their loss. “We already accomplished a lot and we just wanted to see how far we could go.”
Their positive attitude helps them to stay level-headed and focus on going even further next season.
And the team should be proud of their accomplishments. They have set the bar higher and challenged future teams and players to just try and outdo them.
