Coming off of its second-straight Mission League Championship, the varsity girls’ soccer team is aiming to look past its loss in the quarter finals last year and win the CIF playoffs.
“This team has surprised me in a good way on several occasions this season,” team captain Hannah Lichtenstein ’13 said. “With the talent, coaching staff and desire that everybody on this team has to win, I see us going far.”
The team is currently ranked third in the nation by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, better than any team west of Texas. However, CIF seeded the Wolverines as only the third best team in Div. I of the Southern Section, and the Wolverines will host Mater Dei on Thursday in the first round of playoffs.
“I think there are several teams with a great chance,” Simms said. “We are currently ranked number three so we are not the favorites. We will need to stay healthy and get some luck as we are still a very young and inexperienced team.”
The team was shocked when one of its younger, but more dominant players, Courtney Corrin ’16 was handed a five game suspension.
Corrin left school for a week to attend a camp for the U.S. Under – 17 Women’s National Soccer Team held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. When she eturned, she learned that CIF had suspended her for at least four games.
“It was frustrating because you come back from playing with the national team and it’s such an honor, and then you come back and hear that you’re suspended for playing for your country,” Corrin said. “It’s just upsetting.”
Corrin was suspended along with four other players from the Southern California section, which includes Los Angeles, Orange County, Pasadena and Riverside.
“I will be missing the first playoff game because technically I already missed three games, and I’m missed the Valencia game this Saturday,” Corrin said. “But lucky for me, I missed those or else I’d pretty much be done for the whole season.”
While away, Corrin missed games against Alemany, Louisville and Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy. During her absence, the team received their only loss from Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy. In addition, she missed her team’s game against Valencia, their last game before the first round of CIF playoffs.
“Courtney Corrin is obviously a very talented player and an important piece to our team,” Lichtenstein said. “I would say that in our loss against Flintridge Sacred Heart that Courtney Corrin’s scrapiness and ball-winning would have been helpful. We are lucky to have a deep roster, particularly in center midfield, so four or five players can step into that position and do a very good job.”
Corrin considers herself lucky because she only has to miss the first CIF playoff game.
“For right now, all I can do is cheer them on and hope for the best until I can play again and I can actually do something,” Corrin said.
Although the team obviously wants Corrin back in their lineup, they are more focused on the immediate task at hand, beating Mater Dei in the first round of CIF playoffs.
“We knew right when we won the Mater Dei tournament that a target was going to be on our backs the rest of the season,” Lichtenstein said. When you beat a team like Aliso Niguel or San Clemente, they want revenge and come back especially hard.”
Mater Dei finished third in the Trinity League, so Harvard-Westlake will be favored to win the game. Despite this, the Lichtenstein said that the team tries to not let rankings get to their head.
“We’ve lost twice this season and both times did not feel good at all,” Lichtenstein said. “I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we’re going to do everything in our power to not have that feeling again.”
Additional reporting by Nadia Rahman and Erina Szeto.
