After a 2-1 victory over Anzar to kick off its season on
Tuesday, things are looking good for the San Benito High girls
soccer team’s 2004 campaign.
After a 2-1 victory over Anzar to kick off its season on Tuesday, things are looking good for the San Benito High girls soccer team’s 2004 campaign.
And they’re only going to get better.
The Haybalers had the guns to come back from an early 1-0 deficit in their season opener, with Brittany Huth tying the game in the first half and Rachel Maheu sccoring the go-ahead goal with less than 10 minutes left in the contest. Impressive, but the team is still waiting for two of its key players to to return to the fold. And when they do, the race for the Tri-County Athletic League title is going to get that much more difficult for all teams not known as the Haybalers.
Senior Jennifer Vandenberg, a four-year starter for San Benito, is currently competing with her travel team, the Sunnyvale Roadrunners and will be playing a key role for that squad in the upcoming Surf Cup in San Diego, one of the nation’s most prestigious soccer tournaments.
Given the fact that a lot of athletes play on travel teams like the Roadrunners to get noticed by colleges, one might wonder what Vandenberg has to gain by playing on such a team this time of year. She’s already been picked up by UCLA to play soccer for the Bruins next season.
The answer is simple: She’s a fierce competitor and her team needs her.
“Jennifer is extremely talented,” said Balers coach Mike Schurig. “She’s been our leading goal scorer and a big part of our team. We miss her but that’s okay, we have to be able to do well without her because she’s not going to be around next season.”
Also missing from the San Benito lineup is senior Michelle Sanchez, a key midfielder and an offensive threat as well. Sanchez is in the middle of helping the Balers volleyball team in its playoff run, which continues tonight at Santa Clara High School in San Jose when San Benito faces Aptos for a shot at the state tournament.
The Balers have finished second in the TCAL standings two years in a row and they hope to match or improve on that mark with this season’s team. And even though the team lost six of last season’s starters to graduation, coach Schurig is confident that his team will be competitive.
“Realistically, I think we have a good team, we have a lot of talent and depth,” Schurig said. “But the league is strong. Live Oak, Salinas and Gilroy are forces. But I’m optimistic. The girls are showing up for practice even when they’re injured or sick and practices are going very well, we had a full-field practice (Wednesday) and it went really well.”
“Our goals this season are going to be to concentrate on defense, to learn to support one another on and off the field, and to just have fun playing the game.”
Also expected to play key roles with the Balers this season are goalie Mary Von Urff, who Schurig considers to be one of the Bay Area’s best keepers, and stopper Kitra Brigantino, who went from coming off of the bench infrequently last season to a regular substitute and now on to starter.
Boys Soccer
North Monterey 1, San Benito 0
CASTROVILLE – The San Benito High boys soccer team dropped a game to the Condors after a sluggish first half saw them give up the game’s only score.
But coach first-year coach Juan Martinez sees talent on his team and is confident that the Haybalers will be competitive this year.
“We played terrible in the first half,” Martinez said. “They were winning almost every ball. But in the second half, we were really on their tails. I think we could have won the game but luck wasn’t with us.”
San Benito forward Joel Aguilar had a scoring opportunity late in the contest after breaking away from double coverage but his shot ended up just a couple of inches too high.
Balers goalie Daniel Laguna had a solid performance in the net, stopping six of seven shots.
