by Reese Sieger
Welcome to the Monthly Athletic Spotlight; April edition! This year, the Pointer Press Sports Section will be acknowledging something sports-related every month. This something can range from athlete and coaches/staff profiles, to events, to news. The April spotlight is the latter, specifically the record-breaking CIF run that our Point Loma High School Varsity Soccer Team achieved.
When the winter sports season began, an amazing varsity soccer team was formed. It consisted of seven seniors; Raya Caldwell, Reese Sieger, Erin Denney, Corinne Wilson, Abby Bennett, Jenna Ruthven, and Caitlin Wilson. Seven juniors; Helena Simms, Chesney Correia, Davia Kerr, Rylee Larocoo, Charley Faucett, Ciara Soraghan, and Amanda Myers. Three sophomores; Gwen Rauvola, Kiley Fehrenbacher, and Madi Egan. Finally, it consisted of four Freshman; Quinn Madden, Maia Kranz, Amelie Jacobs, and Marley Buddington. This team was coached by head coach Ze Garcia who was helped by assistant coaches Jeremy Young and Natasha Camacho-Bier.
Throughout the season, the Pointers fought hard and earned a spot as the 8th seed in Open Division (the final spot in the highest CIF division). Because of this, nobody expected much. However, the Pointers shocked everyone as they beat the number one seed, Bonita Vista High School, 2-0 in the first round of playoffs with goals by Erin Denney and Caitlin Wilson. Then, they continued the underdog path as the team went on to beat the number 3 seed, Del Norte High School, 2-1, with goals by Gwen Rauvola and Erin Denney. Finally, the team made it all the way to the CIF finals, where they faced off against San Marcos High School. This game ended regulation time as a 0-0 tie, so it went into overtime, where there were still no goals scored, so it went into penalty kicks. Unfortunately, the Pointers ended up losing in this situation, but that didn’t take away how hard the Pointers had worked to get there. Nor does it take away from the amazing saves that the incredible goalkeeper, Raya Caldwell, had within that game, throughout the whole season, and during the shootout.
As CIF open division finalists, the Pointers moved onto State Regionals, once again as the last seed. Their underdog story continued, as the team traveled up to Corona, California to play Santiago High School, where they won with a “golden goa”l by Gwen Rauvola in overtime. Deja vu set in as the Pointers traveled to San Marcos high school to replay them, but this time in the state regional semi-finals. Once again, regulation time ended scoreless, as did overtime, and the Pointers entered penalty kicks once again versus the Knights. Gwen Rauvola and Erin Denney made their kicks but unfortunately two was not enough for a win as the Knights once again took the victory in penalty kicks. Interestingly enough, the Knights top players, Journey Middleborn and Ava Bynes, did not shoot for their team during penalty kicks. Later that week, the Knights went on to get thrashed by Temecula Valley High School in the finals, as they lost 4-1.
Despite the final loss, the Pointer community is incredibly proud of our varsity soccer squad for their incredible run. It was a record breaking season, as the Varsity team had never before been Open Division finalists or state regional semi-finalists.
Coach Garcia said, “I am extremely proud of the work these ladies put forward the entire season and throughout playoffs. The players this year had the perfect combination of talent, leadership, and grit, and when all of those come together, great things happen.”
The Pointers had an incredible season and the girls on the team will remember it forever. Four awards were given out at the end of the season to honor certain players. Most inspirational was given to Reese Sieger. Rookie of the Year was awarded to Kiley Fehrenbacher. The Coach’s Award was handed to Caitlin Wilson. And the MVP Award was deservingly given to goalkeeper Raya Caldwell, who won this award unanimously with all the votes from her teammates.
Overall, the 2021-2022 varsity high school soccer season will forever be engraved into the team’s minds. The Pointers showed incredible teamwork, determination, strength, and so much more to prove that they belonged where they were, despite what seedings, rankings and penalty kicks said.
