On Friday, January 26, girls’ varsity soccer tied their game against Bonita High School, 1-1. Ayala’s record is now 11-5-1 overall, and 5-2-1 in the league. Bonita’s record is now 6-8-4 overall, and 1-4-1 in the league.
Before the game, senior night was hosted for our girls varsity soccer team where 19 seniors were honored and recognized. The seniors being recognized were Greta Genie, Abby Foster, Ava Uresti, Sabrina Abu-Wishah, Katelyn Barrozo, Roseanna Ashak, Khalea Turingan, Sofia Torres, Kaylee Bergeron, Kylie Wilbanks, Sienna Hopple, Alyssa Lee, Viviana Naranjo, Laurie Park, and Abigayle Grace. In addition, the three captains of the varsity team who are seniors are Abby Bassett, Preslee Malavenda, and Isabella Contreras. At the ceremony, seniors were escorted by their loved ones through the crowd of junior varsity (JV) and frosh girls holding up signs dedicated to each one of the seniors. Posters were put up all around the stadium honoring the seniors and wishing them luck towards their future. In order to allow all the seniors playing time, frequent substitutions were made. Even the injured seniors were given as little as a minute to put the ball in play for kick off and then immediately subbed back out. This night made an impact on all of the seniors as well as their families, knowing that this may be one of the last times they saw them play.
At the start of the first half, Ayala knew this was going to be a tough match due to Bonita’s recent win against the first place team in the league, Alta Loma. With this information, Ayala came in strong, and did not let in a goal. However, Bonita did the same and Ayala was also unable to score. This set the score at the half at 0-0, making it anyone’s game.
As the second half started, Bonita was able to score a goal, putting them in the lead. However, Ayala came back and was able to also score a goal in the last minutes of the game. This goal was scored by sophomore Jae Hillenbrand, which set the final score at 1-1.
The last few games will determine whether or not Ayala walks away winning the league, which will be the first in a long time that this has happened. Particularly their next game, which is against Alta Loma on Monday, January 29th at 5:30. Bonita’s next game will be on Monday, January 29th against Claremont High School at 5:30.
