With the new girls soccer season already underway, the team hopes to adapt and thrive under head coach JD Penilton, who’s in his fourth season here. However, after losing 12 seniors after last season, the team looks to the younger class of players to compete this girls soccer season.
After taking this heavy loss of seniors, Penilton looks to go back to the basics this preseason.
“It’s all about bringing in those younger players, building in the foundation and really going over the basics,” Penilton said.
Something that Penilton is approaching differently with this younger team is the formation that the team runs. According to Penilton, in the past, the team has switched around formations because of the knowledge that the upperclassmen had last season and the season prior. Whereas this season, Penilton is sticking with one formation.
“There were times where we rotated formation three or four times last year, and this year it’s like, this is the formation we’re gonna play and these are the minor manipulations to the formation based on what the game gives us,” he said.
Sophomore and varsity captain Addy Skyles also acknowledged the youth on the soccer team and how it has helped grow the program and more specifically, the varsity team.
“We have three new freshmen on our team this year, and I think they’re going to make a huge difference for our team in the next few years,” Skyles said. “Bringing in young talent has helped us get prepared.”
Senior Isabella Gazzo has been on the varsity team for three years and has noticed a shift in play style between this year and her first year.
“This past year, we’ve done a lot more teamwork like moving the ball around to try and get it up the field,” Gazzo said.
Gazzo also pointed out that a goal for this season would be good team chemistry.
With the introduction of the new captains Rebekah Zahler, Odessa Berry, and Skyles, they hope to improve team chemistry during the season and also in the offseason.
“We’re working together well, and I like the new captains this year too, so that’s been nice,” Gazzo said.
In the off-season, the team has done activities to boost team chemistry. According to Skyles, the team attended University of Portland soccer games and Thorns games.
“It’s been a good chance to bond,” Skyles said.
Furthermore, the team really put in the work this offseason by attending summer practices and preparing for tryouts and the season ahead.
“A lot of people have shown up and been working really hard in preseason in summer workouts,” Skyles said.
This year’s preseason and off-season has been preparing for the challenging PIL opponents this season. Just to show the difficulty of the PIL, three out of the four semi-finalists of last year’s state playoffs were PIL teams. Skyles sees this as an opportunity for the team.
“We’re always excited to play PIL games. We get the chance to play state champions, which is always a great experience,” Skyles said.
Some standout players to look for this year, according to Penilton, are Skyles, Rebekah Zahler, Annika Zahler and Vivian Brenneman.
It’s no doubt that the girls soccer team is going to have to adapt to the heavy loss of seniors, but with the growing confidence in the freshman and sophomore varsity athletes, the team looks to shine when they come to face their league opponents.
