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| Chloe Atkins (right) is the leader of an offense that helped Paloma Valley win the league title. |
After completing an undefeated Sunbelt League season, the Paloma Valley High School girls soccer players have their minds set on the California Interscholastic Federation tournament.
The team has been working hard all year, and according to players and Coach Marie Dillon, the Wildcats have the skill and mindset to do well in the CIF playoffs, which start this week. The Wildcats will be at home on Friday against Colton, the No. 3 team from the Sunkist League.
“The biggest difference from this year to last year is leadership and maturity,” said Dillon. “The girls have worked hard and they decided to make it [the soccer season] better.”
Dillon has coached the girls soccer team at Paloma Valley for seven years and said she feels like this year the girls have put in a lot of effort into making the team better. The Wildcats have an overall record of 16-2-6 and a league record of 7-0-3.
Through injuries and difficult games, the team has pushed through the season and worked hard to achieve an outstanding record. During their last game against Temescal Valley (a 2-0 win), Dillon said the girls not only beat the other team, but they also overcame their nerves.
“The girls were a bit nervous in their last game,” said Dillon. “We made it a goal, though, to be undefeated this season and they’re confident they can make it to the [CIF] finals and win it. We really believe that no team has worked harder than us.”
Teammates Jackie Armijo and Chloe Atkins said that the Wildcats have felt more like a team this year than last year. Armijo is the Wildcats' central defender and Atkins is one of the team’s forwards. She has been one of the team’s leading scorers for the season.
“We definitely have grown from last year to this,” said Armijo. “I’m just really proud of our team. We just have to keep working.”
“We connect a lot on the field,” said Atkins, “which is something we didn’t do last year.”
Armijo said that team chemistry has been an important factor in the team’s success this year.
“You can have a really skilled team,” said Armijo. “But if you don’t have the bonding aspect, it doesn’t go well on the field.”
The Wildcats have team dinners once a week and usually have sleepovers once a month to help the girls bond and spend time with one another off the field. Having a team that gets along well helps them play better and work better together, said Armijo and Atkins.
Both players said that in addition to having a good team that works well together, their coach has had a lot to do with this year’s success.
“A lot of coaches just focus on skills and endurance,” said Armijo. “But she’s very motivating and makes us want to be here.”
“That’s true,” said Atkins. “She also helps us bond a lot.”
Dillon and her players look forward to the competition and are confident about their chances of winning.
“We want to win CIF and we believe we can do it," Dillon said. "We’re going to go out and focus on playing as a team and winning will take care of itself.”
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| Senior Jackie Armijo is the anchor of a strong Paloma Valley defense. |
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