On February 19th, the Ladypack fought on our home court against Smidt Tech, and the girls’ soccer team battled the Fairfax Lions on their home field in Fairfax, Los Angeles. Despite the two Wolfpack teams competing far away from each other, their mentality was in the same place, “we want to win and move on,” says Itzel Bautista, a freshman defender. This mentality and determination drove both teams to enter the CIF Semifinals.
Prior to the Smidt Tech playoff game for the Ladypack, the team found itself playing against the Huntington Park Spartans on February 14. Despite winning the game 55-53, the Ladypack felt like their spirits had lowered due to their performance as a team, regardless of the outcome. Carmen Lilly, a sophomore point guard, says, “[We were] pretty down because we didn’t play too good, [it was] one of our worst games because we didn’t have a lot of team chemistry.” Lilly continues to elaborate on the importance of team unity, saying, “Without team chemistry, movement won’t get around good, and your shots/layups won’t come out as good because the spark isn’t there.” The outcome of the game against the Spartans created a small, daunting atmosphere on the Ladypack as they moved through the playoffs and onto Smidt Tech.
The girl wolfpack soccer team was able to clear Middle College easily, but felt more anxious about the Lions of Fairfax. At the time, the Lions were ranked number one in the southern league, which, as Sophia Pulido, the team’s sophomore midfielder, describes, “ [made the] team nervous about playing.” Along with the predetermined nerves, earlier in the day, rain poured over cities in Los Angeles; Fairfax was no exception. This meant the field was wet and muddy, almost like a “slip and slide,” Pulido said.
As the Ladypack played on a court right at home and the wolfpack girls’ soccer played on a muddy field far away, the alpha mentality shone clear through their playing. Ellen Kendell, a senior center, describes the game, “It went well, we didn’t really know what to expect, and knew they were a little aggressive, we were a little scared at the beginning, but with good defense and good shooting, we were able to catch back up.” After the small bump in the road, Schmidt Tech was easily defeated by the wolfpack in a 32-point dominant score of 56-25. This win opened up the path to becoming division champions by moving onto semifinals.
Across the county, the girl wolfpack soccer team went 90 minutes, basically the entire typical game, without a single goal scored on Fairfax, yet Fairfax had failed to score a goal on the wolfpack. This resulted in a 0-0 tie, forcing the game to go into a 15-minute overtime. Overtime is especially stressful because of the nature of the “golden goal” which becomes active. Bautista explains, “The golden goal means whoever gets the first goal in the 15 minutes wins, even if there’s time left over…” This rule pushes each team harder than ever to get a goal as if it were life or death. Even with this motivating rule, neither team scored on the other. This meant it depended on the number of penalties each team had; the team with the fewest penalties would win. The Fairfax Lions finished the game with four penalties, and the Wolfpack finished with two, making the Wolfpack the winners.
Now, as semifinalists, the Wolfpack will face teams tougher than anyone this season. Girls’ soccer will face the Marquez Gladiators on February 24th. Although the Wolfpack has lost against the gladiators before, this doesn’t scare them; these losses are motivations to win. Puldio says, “I’m confident will actually do a lot better against Marquez because we already know how they play and [we are] committed to winning.” Similarly, the Ladypack is excited to play Banning on February 21, no matter the outcome, “…if we win, then I’m happy, but if we lose, the season was really good, and I love my team and still be happy with what we had,” says Lilly. Semifinals won’t be easy, but after this season full of triumphs, the Lady Wolfpack deserves to celebrate their victories and prepare for the semifinal competition they will face next.
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