While a number of students enjoyed time off this summer for fun and sun, a bunch of local girls kicked their time off into higher gear.
Albion Soccer Club’s girls under-15 White team made it to the finals of the U.S. Club Soccer National Championship last month in Greensboro, N.C.
Seven of the girls on the team play for the La Jolla High School girls soccer team. The LJHS students on the team are Amanda Beary, Alix Foster, Rosie Jaye, Maddy Sharp, Courtney Volger, Katie Wahl and Jessica Wood. The team is coached by Noah Gins, director of coaching of Albion SC, and Beto Villela.
The competition in North Carolina proved extremely challenging for the local participants.
After two 1-1 ties against FC Delco Sting and St. Louis SC, the team had a must-win game against Vista Shockwave. With a 0-0 tie, and about three minutes of regulation time remaining, Wahl beat her defender and scored from deep in the right corner.
The Albion girls played in the national finals against their Southern California rival and 2006 USYS National Champion, Irvine Strikers. They held the Strikers to a 0-0 tie at halftime but ended with a 2-0 loss at the end of regulation time.
“Going to U.S. club nationals is such an honor,” Wood said. “We knew that in North Carolina we would see some of the best competition, and we knew that we wouldn’t just breeze through the teams, which is why we worked and practiced hard. In the end, it was all worth it. Even though we didn’t win it all, we were all so proud of everything we had accomplished. Last year we lost every game and didn’t score once in the whole tournament, and this year we were national finalists.”
Wood noted that this was a big leap forward for the girls, and next year they are hoping to take the title as national champions.
“It will take a lot of work and I’m sure a lot of things will change from now to then, but we will work hard in the effort to achieve that goal,” Wood added.