Ready to Open Season
By: Paul Muyskens
One of the first teams to take the field this season will be the women's soccer team as they host Holy Names University in an exhibition game on Tuesday, August 24th at 3:00 pm. It will be the first time they have taken the pitch for a game since their season ended 627 days prior in the CCCAA Final Four.
Coming into the season off of a back to back appearance in the state final four and with a lot of time to think about how the 2019 season came to an end the Mustangs' goals for this upcoming season are at an all-time high with a mix of talented returning players, transfers and incoming freshman.
"Something cool that we have this year that we have never had before is a lot of third-year players," said head coach Adrienne Sorenson. "That leadership is not something you usually get."
One of those players is goalkeeper Callie Crain who during the 2019 season split time in goal along with the departed Marcella Salyer who became the first All-American in program history.
"It has been really fun to watch Callie grow up and mature while she has been here," said Sorenson about her top keeper going into this season. "She has always been extremely talented but she has grown a lot. Her numbers were a little better than Marcella's and she played in the second half of every game which is generally the more intense minutes of the tight games. She had a great freshman year and was one of the top goalkeepers in the state. Now she has that opportunity to step in and be that number one and I anticipate she will have a really great year."
After a 2019 season that saw her not allow a goal at home Crain has high goals not just for herself but for the team this season. "This team is something special," said Crain while also talking about how special it also is to be back playing after losing last season. "My expectations are nothing less but to win it all."
Other players back from the 2019 team include Dayana Hernandez who was second on the team with 15 goals, Joana Leon who had six goals, and Haley Molinari who finished with five goals.
"We get talented players year in and year out," said Sorenson about players that have found their way to the Mustangs after starting their college career elsewhere. One of those is Sabrina Cabrera who scored 21 goals two seasons ago at Reedley College. "Sabrina's life is soccer. She lives to be here and she is a good person to help set the tone."
Two other transfers include Alexis Brewah from San Jose State and Emily Counter from the University of the Pacific. "Alexis has the talent but also another level of a competitor in her. She inspires this group and makes people around her better. Emily came right in and was able to fill in such an important role. She brings that experience from the Division I level and we were able to plug her in right at center back."
With the start of the season in a matter of days, there were still some positions up in the air on who would be getting the starting nod.
"Depth is a strength," said Sorenson who had yet to decide the starting lineup for the first game of the season. "We don't just have numbers but we have real depth at almost all positions. We have quality players that are not just good junior college level players but the depth with players that I feel like are going to transfer to Division II coming off our bench, Division I maybe even after a few years here. It's something we push with the players that you are coming into an environment where you are going to be pushed at an extremely high level by your teammates."
"I tell every kid when they come in here that make no mistake every day we are trying to get better and trying to win a state championship," said Sorenson before highlighting one other strength of this year's team is the camaraderie that they have.
"I'm not sure that there's another junior college program out there where the kids are so proud to be where they are. I'm so proud of that."
After their exhibition game on Tuesday, the Mustangs will open up the regular season at home against Merced on Friday, August 27th at 5:00 pm.