This Winter season has stadium bleachers packed with fellow Wolverines as the ANHS Girls Soccer team has started competing in the South Coast “Best in the West Winter Soccer Classic” tournament. 

The duration of this anticipated tournament is eight days; occurring from Dec. 10 to Dec. 17 at various locations. The start of the tournament was Saturday Dec. 10 and the Aliso team had both its first game of the season, and first game of the tournament at the Aliso Niguel High School Stadium. 

Although they were in the close proximity of support and cheers from their fellow Wolverines, it was not a victorious day for the soccer players. 

Their first game started at 8:00 a.m. in the morning. In this match, they played against Los Alamitos High School. Within the first half of the game, Los Alamitos had already scored two goals during the entire game. As such, the defensive line, which included notable player Emily Trapp (10) fought hard and well to keep their goalie protected. However that was not enough, because Los Alamitos’ defense played extremely well too, making it difficult for ANHS’ forwards and midfielders to get a goal. In the end, the team lost the game by a score of 2-0.

The second and final game of the day for Aliso Niguel was later in the day at 2:00 p.m., played against Hart High School. It was a hot, brutal, and intense game for the team that tested the players’ strength and endurance. Both teams struggled to get the upper hand but the highlight of the game was when Alaina Villa (10) scored a goal for ANHS. It was a happy and memorable moment for the team as she managed to even the odds for them. The game ended in a tie with a final score of 1-1. 

The end of that game against Hart concluded their first day of the tournament. The next time the girls soccer team will play is on Saturday Dec. 17. They will be playing against Harvard Westlake High school and whether or not they will win, will determine who they are going to play against next. If the team wins and defeats Harvard Westlake, then they will go on to play the bracket B3 winner, and if they lose they will play the bracket B3 loser.

Leading the girls along the journey to get the gold, is Coach Dodge, who has been coaching at Aliso Niguel High for 27 seasons. He is beloved by his players and Alaina Villa (10) stated that, “I have faith in my coach and fellow players. I believe we are capable of winning and I wouldn’t want to share that victory, or loss, with anyone else.”