St. Francis junior Miriam Abonce pointed out that anytime someone steps into their gymnasium to check out all of the league title banners, none of them say girls soccer.
That all changed this year following a Pacific Coast Athletic League title run that saw the Sharks go from a winless season to Cypress Division champion.
“It’s really an accomplishment,” Abonce said. “Even playing in this division, from the start we knew we could pull this off. We could do it if we work hard and everything.”
St. Francis went through a complete 180-degree transformation after it finished with an 0-16-2 overall record, and placed seventh in the Cypress Division in 2023-24.
At the start this season, the Sharks surpassed last year’s total number of wins by two. They were victorious against former Cypress Division foes Santa Catalina and Stevenson, giving them all the momentum they needed going into Santa Lucia Division play.
What proceeded was a nine-game win streak and the program’s first-ever league crown.
“It feels great,” Abonce said. “Just seeing how far we’ve come from last year, seeing the difference in the team chemistry, it’s just really great.”
St. Francis head coach Chris Croghan mentioned this year’s group showed commitment from the get-go. They showed up during the summer to work out and train together for the sole purpose of improving.
“They’ve been able to really play as a unit, as a team and it’s been really impressive just to watch how much fun they’re having,” Croghan said. “And now to see that equate to a league championship, it’s pretty exciting.”
Abonce, who has eight goals and eight assists this season, said one of the reasons they’ve been so successful is team chemistry. And one of the key elements happens to be newcomer junior Peyton Orradre, who opted not to play a third season with the basketball team.
In just her first year with the soccer program, Orradre currently has a team-best 17 goals to go along with a pair of assists, according to statistics on the Max Preps website.
“I’ve always been just a really competitive person. I really like to win,” Orradre said. “Soccer, it was basically just running after the ball. I do track and other sports, so I have the speed.”
Abonce said her teammate’s goals speak for themselves. Last year, the Sharks struggled to put the ball in the net, scoring just six goals the entire season.
“We needed someone who can just use her speed, use her ability, even if she’s never played before,” Abonce said. “It’s just great knowing that she’ll be there at every ball that we send up.”
Other first-year contributors include freshmen Alyssandra Peterson and Aubrey Nualart. Peterson currently has a team-best nine assists and seven goals, while Nualart has five assists and one goal.
Junior Alisa Lumicao has four assists, and teammates Elin Cardenas Hernandez and Micaela Garcia each have two goals and two assists this season.
Croghan also added assistant coach Jacob Myers, who has brought tons of expertise and energy to the program.
“He’s done a lot of things that I just don’t have the time to do, which has been great,” Croghan said. “He knows the game really well and he knows how to coach it. He’s been a huge part of this success we’ve had this year.”
However, a Cypress Division crown does not guarantee the Sharks a Central Coast Section playoff berth. They’ll have to play against the Mission Division’s second place finisher in a play-in game Feb. 18 to determine which team will advance into the playoffs.
“We just won league so now let’s do something with it,” Orradre said. “Our coaches, every practice, remind us that we’ll be the first to make it to CCS if we go. I think that’s a big motivation that we want to be the first to do something with the girls soccer program.”
Abonce added they’ve come all this way, and although these are uncharted waters for the Sharks, they’ll be ready to go come gameday.
“We don’t know what we’re going up against but we definitely need to try the best we can, just give it our all,” Abonce said.
Pajaro Valley captures Mission Division
After coming up short of a league title in 2024, Pajaro Valley was on a mission to capture the PCAL Mission Division crown this season. They accomplished that feat following a 2-1 victory over Carmel on Feb. 5.
The Grizzlies capped off the regular season this week with a 5-1 win over North Salinas on Thursday, finishing with an undefeated 10-0-2 record in league play.
Senior Valeria Acosta had two goals, giving her 46 on the season, while teammates seniors Leslie Carrisoza and Leilani Vazquez along with freshman Denise Magallon each scored once.
Junior Scarlet Gomez was credited with a pair of assists, giving her a total of 28 this season, according to statistics on the MaxPreps website.
Next up, the Grizzlies (17-1-2) will await for the CCS seeding meeting on Feb. 20 to see who and where they’ll play in the postseason. The opening round of the playoffs begins Feb. 22.
Monte Vista Christian currently sits sixth in the Mission Division standings with a 3-6-1 record in league play, and owns a 6-9-3 overall record. They have two games remaining starting at North Monterey County on Friday at 5pm, followed by the regular season finale at home against Pacific Collegiate on Saturday at 11am.
Watsonville struggles in Gabilan Division
Watsonville High is going through another challenging season competing in the PCAL’s top-tier known as the Gabilan Division. They currently sit in sixth place with a 3-8 record in league play.
The Wildcatz (6-10-2) play Monterey in the teams’ regular season finale on Monday at 5:45pm.
Aptos clinches third straight SCCAL championship
The freight train known as Aptos High has gone non-stop since the start of the season en route to a third consecutive SCCAL crown, finishing with a 9-0-1 record in league play.
They capped off the regular season with a 5-0 victory over Harbor on Thursday night.
Marlene Zamora tallied a pair of goals, while teammates Anahi Macias and Emily Santiago each scored once for Aptos. The fifth goal was scored off a Harbor defender off a shot by Gigi Zuniga.
Isabella Hartnett, Scarlett Stateler and Alexa Castañeda were all credited with one assist for the Mariners (15-2-1), who will also await next week’s CCS seeding meeting.
