Girls Varsity Soccer Championship

ONE, TWO, THREE . . .  KICK -- Jaguar Fernanda Vaca Diez and Griffin defender look choreographed as they battle for the ball. Carlos Paredes, Cooperative 

Female Jags roar in final, win  3-0

By Sung Eun Song
International School
 The Cooperative girls varsity soccer team defeated International 3-0, keeping alive their seemingly eternal winning streak going back to 2007, and their streak of six consecutive  League soccer titles going back to the founding of the League in 2005
 The championship game was played on the Jaguars home field Tuesday afternoon.

 The Jaguars unleashed fierce attacks as soon as the game started, not giving the Griffins a scoring chance while engaging in seeming ceaseless shooting. The reason they didn't score was in large part because of the fast feet of Griffin defender Flavia Nostas. 

 .Then, in an ironic twist, Ana Gutierrez of Internationalk accounted for the first Cooperative goal when a fast crossing pass from Jaguar Tania Landivar across the mouth of the goal seemed to take her by surprise, and she accidentally knocked the ball into her own goal for a 1-0 Cooperative lead. It was the third time this year International had inadvertently put the ball in its own goal in games against Cooperative. 

ALL HAIL -- Jaguar Sofia Sotelo (19) accepts the
 plaudits of teammates after her goal made it 2-0.
 Maria Eugenia Zelada, International 

 But if International was feeling snake-bit it didn't show, and from the middle of the first half the Griffins began a counterattack. Natalia Davila was a persistent attacker who continuously ran the ball down and tried to engineer opportunities to score. Her efforts won her several corner kicks --but no goals. 

 As the game progressed the Jaguars seeme to regain momentum. She took a few corner kicks, but couldn’t score a goal.  Among several great chances was a shot by Fernanda Vaca Diez who took charge of a kick that came all the way from Cooperative goalie Karla Aguilera. Vaca Diez  kicked the ball hard in front of the goal, but the shot  hit the post and bounced out.

 It was Sofia Sotelo who finally scored Cooperative's first real point of a game. She drove through the defense and blasted it in, giving the Jaguars a 2-0 lead at halftime.

 As the second half began  International tried hard to make scoring chances, but had trouble getting past the  middle of the field. 

 Camila Johnson of International played very tough defense, tussling hard for the ball.  Ana Paula Peredo and Carla Limpias were Cooperative's outstanding defenders. Whenever Peredo passed the ball upfield high, the ball always landed accurately  where Cooperative players were positioned. Limpias cleared the ball from in front of the Cooperative goal  without hesitation, guarding Coopperative’s goal perfectly.

 The overall play was closely matched  at this point, though the Cooperative girls had the edge and in the closing minutes of the game the Jaguars sealed their championship victory by scoring one more point. It was Paola Querejazu  who masterfully kicked into the goal a ball that had been bouncing back and forth frantically in front of the goal. 

 The main keys of Cooperative’s winning were their accurate passing, disciplined shooting, and perfect defense.  They were prepared and, hence, confident. Most of their starting players willñ be back next year.  It seems like the rest of varsity girls teams will need to practice hard to defeat the Jaguar girls and write a new page in League history in next year's championship.

 Historical note: A careful polling of SCISL veterans has determined that Cooperative last lost a game in 2007. Christian Learning defeated the Jaguars in the opening game of the season 1-0 on a penalty kick by Eagle Daniela Brooks. The Jaguars were tied twice in 2008, once by Christian Learning 1-1 and once by Cambridge 0-0. The tie with Cambridge was the last time the Cooperative girls hads been held scoreless. The Jaguars girls were undefeated and untied in 2009 and 2010 in both SCISL and Friendship Games competition. The closes they came to losing or being tied this year was a 2-1 game with International in which the Jaguars trailed for most of the game. 

   Playing for the Jaguars were goalie Karla Aguilera, Ana Paula Peredo, Carla Limpias, Maria Jose Rivero, Aldana Roda, Paola Querejazu, Tania Landivar, Sofia Sotelo, Fernanda Vaca Diez, Audrey Saucedo, Marareña Valdez, Paulina Aguirre, and Rosleny Kefer.

 The Griffin line-up: Fabiana Zelada, Albamarina Perez, Ana Gutierrez, Lila Dueri, Maria Isabel Barrenechea, Natalia Davila, Camila Johnson, Matilde Gamarra, Natalia Suarez, Natalia Johnson,Regina Landivar, Adriana Ocampo, Stephanie Giotto, Maria Victoria Gutierrez, Laura Maragaño, and Flavia Nostas.
   (Editor's Note --Presentation of this story was delayed because SCISL News reporter Sung Eun Song of International School was in a traffic accident Tuesday. The taxi she was traveling in to go home from the championships rear-ended another car. We are pleased to be able to report that Song's injuries are not serious, mainly scratches, and that she expects to be back on the job for the JV Championships next Thursday. )

SHARP TURN -- Jaguar Maria Jose Rivero (9) looks for a way to clear the ball out of her end.  Carlos Paredes, Cooperative