SOLEDAD — Last May the Soledad High girls’ soccer team lost to Monterey in the Central Coast Section playoffs. Fast-forward a few months later, with the Cypress Division title on the line, the Lady Aztecs would turn to a player that only played in four varsity games.
It was a busy week for the Soledad girls, having to play three games in one week, along with celebrating senior night and player Sophia Martel breaking the school record for most goals in a season.
The Lady Aztecs were able to take care of business by first beating Pacific Grove, 1-0, and then tying Pajaro Valley, 2-2.
Going into last Saturday’s game with Monterey, Soledad was 0-3 against them, without scoring in those three previous matchups. In their game on Feb. 1, the Aztecs lost 4-0 to Monterey.
Because Monterey had lost to Pajaro Valley the week before, they had to win their second matchup against Soledad this season to become champions.
Saturday’s game started well for the Lady Aztecs, stopping the Monterey attack multiple times in the first 20 minutes of play. Monterey made sure that Martel wasn’t going to beat them. They had two ladies around her every time she touched the ball.
Like their previous games, Monterey struck first before halftime, giving them a 1-0 lead.
Soledad tried to counter as Martel had two shots on goal, but both came up empty. Though she didn’t score a goal in this game, Martel had two big assists. The first one came in the first half, when she found teammate Precious Aguilera, who tied the game at 1-1.
As the second half began, the Aztec defense held strong, as Monterey didn’t score for the rest of the game.
Back on Feb. 3, in a game against Seaside, Soledad head coach Maria Zamora called up freshman Alexa Ruacho from JV, who had an undefeated year.
“I was going to practices and all the JV games,” Zamora said. “I knew we had to pressure their strikers, and I knew Alex had the ability to do it.”
Ruacho, who was good enough to be on varsity at the beginning of the year, didn’t complain about being put on JV because she knew her time was coming.
Her time arrived Saturday, when the only person between her and the goal was the goalkeeper. She kicked it to the corner and scored, giving Soledad the lead, 2-1.
“After that goal, I’m for sure going to be varsity,” Ruacho said.
After several Monterey attacks up the field, Soledad held up as the clock hit triple zero, giving the Lady Aztecs their first title since 2017.
As the players poured water on Zamora, one could see the joyfulness of the ladies as they were able to win the Cypress title and beat a team that had defeated them in the past three tries.
“I said from the beginning to win, and we had to be flawless,” Zamora said, “and the ladies were.”
Soledad will begin CCS playoffs on Saturday, Feb. 19, at 1 p.m. against Monte Vista Christian at home.
