They circled up for a cheer before the start of the second half, but then stopped.
Someone was missing.
The Dos Pueblos girls soccer players realized that senior Andria Castagnola was stuck over on the bench icing her injured ankle, so they moved the huddle over a few feet so that she could get in on it.
“The girls really respect and get along with each other, so they understand each other’s strengths and have made huge jumps,” said coach Kymberly Williams-Evans. “They always look out for each other.”
The Chargers lost the game 1-0 to visiting San Luis Obispo, but the cohesive team’s 0-3 record on the young season may be a bit misleading.
“We dominated possession and we were the attacking half probably 85 percent of the match,” said Williams-Evans. “There was just one time when one girl got beat and it gave them one opportunity.”
The first-year coach had challenged her team to rack up 15 shots on goal in the game, and the Chargers finished with exactly 15. The Tigers managed only four shots, but one of them found the back of the net late in the game, and that was that.
The Charger back line, anchored by Katie Boehm and Kristen Witchey, played strong all night and did a good job of keeping the ball out of the box, while sophomore Erin Ristig showed off her athleticism at the front, playing forward on both the right and left sides.
Ristig plays physically but is also the team’s fastest player. As a freshman last track season she became a member of DP’s “Sub Club” for girls who run the 100M in under 13.5 seconds. Her time was 13.01, good enough for second all-time in the Charger ranks.
Now all they have to do is find a way to win.
“They met the goal of getting 15 shots, so now I’m going to set a goal on how many go in,” said Williams-Evans with a laugh.
DP plays at Oxnard on Tuesday.
