Coelho leads team to TCAL wins
She may only be a freshman but when it comes to goal scoring,
Sophie Coelho has had more of an impact this year on the San Benito
High varsity girls’ soccer team than any other player.
So far the standout athlete, who has seen all of her playing
time at the forward spot, has scored 12 goals
– nine more than anyone else on the Baler roster.
Coelho leads team to TCAL wins
She may only be a freshman but when it comes to goal scoring, Sophie Coelho has had more of an impact this year on the San Benito High varsity girls’ soccer team than any other player.
So far the standout athlete, who has seen all of her playing time at the forward spot, has scored 12 goals – nine more than anyone else on the Baler roster.
“It takes a whole team to do well,” Baler coach Mike Schurig said. “But she has shown that she has some really good finish work.”
Coelho’s play on the field this season has helped propel the Balers to a 7-3-2 record overall and a 2-1-1 mark in league. Currently, the Balers are a half-game behind Gilroy and a game behind league-leading North Salinas High.
“I think we can go a long way this year if we put our minds to it,” Coelho said. “If we played like we played in our last game we should do well at CCS.”
Coelho first took up the sport at the age of 4 and has been playing ever since.
“I like playing soccer because I like being able to work with a lot of people,” the 14-year-old athlete said.
While Schurig has been impressed with the freshman sensation’s play since day one this season, he has been most impressed with her play in the recent, hard-fought league games, which started a few weeks ago.
“In these more recent games, the opposition has been keying in on her and she still has been able to make things happen,” he said.
One game that Schurig was referring to was last Thursday’s game against North Salinas that took place in Hollister. In that important league showdown, Coelho was double-teamed for most of the game. But instead of getting frustrated, she took advantage of the situation by finding an open player on the field. And although she walked off the field without a goal in the game, she proved her prowess for the game by picking up a pair of assists, which helped the Balers pick up a huge win against the top team in the league.
“She was able to pass the ball off in that game and make things happen,” Schurig said. “She was heavily marked-up and still picked up the assists.”
With her ability to pass the ball well, her explosive speed and touch in front of the goal, the comparisons to former San Benito High standout Jennifer Rose Vandenberg are already being made.
Throughout her four years at San Benito High Vandenberg, an All-League player, accounted for about 80 percent of the Balers offensive output before receiving a partial scholarship to play at Fresno State.
“It’s still early to say if she is the next Rose Vandenberg, but she’s got the maturity on the field, has great skills and she plays Division I club soccer, too,” Schurig said. “She’s also got a good head on her shoulders, and doesn’t take the game lightly.”
One thing that Schurig did say is that whenVandenberg was a senior, the school’s soccer program wasn’t as highly regarded and there wasn’t as much parity in the league. Now the games in the Tri County Athletic League are much closer and more intense, which would imply that Coelho definitely has the potential to not only be a top player in the league but in the section as well.
“I’d say her speed and her touch are what separates her,” Schurig said. “She sees what’s happening on the field real well and has the ability to get behind any defender; and from there has the right touch to get it into the goal.”
In addition to her 12 goals, Coelho also leads the team in shots on goal with six and is second on the team in assists with four.
Coelho learned to polish her skills over the past nine years as a club soccer player with the Hollister Cyberrays. She credits most of her knowledge and love for the game to her longtime coach Carlos Moreno, who has coached her just about every year that she’s been in the Cyberrays organization.
The Balers next home game will take place Jan. 23 against Salinas High. North Salinas is currently tied with Alisal for fourth place, just a half-game back of the Balers.
