Three seniors were sick, one had a concussion and another was recovering from surgery.
Tuesday was Senior Day for the walking wounded on the Dos Pueblos girls soccer team, but Kat Brontsema was healthy and it showed. The senior got some great looks at the goal and converted on one from point-blank range early on in the Chargers’ 1-0 win over visiting Santa Barbara.
“I’m really excited that I got one in my senior game,” she said. “This win is a big deal because it’s a big rivalry and they’ve always been a great team.”
Dons coach Bryan Lloyd was disappointed in his team’s effort.
“We just didn’t start out well. I could think of a few excuses but they’d just be excuses,” he said. “We took the game lightly because we’ve already made playoffs and we just weren’t sharp. And it was Senior Night for them and they played with a lot of passion.”
The Dons had a pair of good opportunities for an equalizer. Briana Lopez sent a beautiful cross rolling right in front of the DP goal 20 minutes into the second half, but none of her teammates could get a foot on it.
Sheridan Spivey made a great run around the DP defense along the baseline of the field near the end of the match that Kelsie Cage got to just a half-second too late, as the DP defense got it out of the box. Chargers sophomore Erin Ristig won a ball on her team’s side of the field to kill a Santa Barbara run just before the final whistle.
Dos Pueblos coach Kymberly Williams-Evans said that senior Terra Dressler had a career-best game, and also praised seniors Allyson Hernandez and Nicole Eisenbeisz for getting on the field for brief stints despite being sick. The coach also said that Katie Boehm had her best game of the season.
“Kat has always had great ball-handling and speed, and once she started applying herself in practice it really translated into solid play in games,” she said.
The Chargers are in a tie for third place and are awaiting other outcomes to see if they will advance to the postseason.
— The Chargers are trying not just to score victories across town but across the world this season, as they are participating as a guinea pig of sorts in a new venture called “World Peace Through Sports” founded by Raj Sundra. Sundra, who was at the game taking photos, has started the business in order to use his love for sports as a tool for positive change.
“If we can inject personal growth into sports it can really help kids to create an amazing life for themselves and also contribute to the planet,” he said. “When you’re growing, contributing becomes a huge part of your life.”
Basically, the program solicits financial support from companies of all sizes, which is then split between a youth sports team and the charity it chooses to sponsor. DP’s sponsor is Dharma Mix, and the team will be splitting the amount it received from the company with a charity which supports impoverished children in Kenya.
The team earns points, which equate to money — through different accomplishments. In DP’s case, the Chargers earn points for goals, effective slide tackles and for cheering for their teammates from the bench. The points earned turn into money for the program.
World Peace Through Sports is still in its beginning stages, and Sundra said that a web site is on the way.
(Photo courtesy of Ronald Mathews)
