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Soccer team sees early season successes

Soccer team sees early season successes
by Lindsey Valdiviez

The St. Teresa’s Academy soccer team has won two consecutive tournaments to kick start the 2013 season. Taking first in both the MO-KAN Challenge and the Heart of America Classic, the Stars have lost only one game this season, maintaining a 9-1 record for the season.

In the MO-Kan Challenge March 29-30, the Stars won all three of their games against the St. James Academy Thunder, the Blue Valley Northwest Huskies and the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints.  The Stars defeated the Saints in the championship game 3-0. In the final game junior Savannah Trujillo had a hat-trick and was named MVP of the tournament and earned a spot on the All-Tournament team. Juniors Lizzie Luallin and Christina DeZeeuw and sophomore Dorian Bailey were also added to the All-Tournament team. Senior Janie Thompson was named Outstanding Goalkeeper.

The following weekend, the Stars played in the Heart of America Classic. In the first round, the Stars were victorious over Bentonville High School Tigers 3-0. Luallin scored two goals and Bailey scored one goal. The Stars defeated the Incarnate Word Academy Red Knights in the second game 4-2. Trujillo had another hat-trick in this game and freshman Alyssa Seitzer scored a goal. In the championship match, STA came out on top over the Bishop Kelley High School Comets 3-1. Trujillo scored two goals and Bailey scored one goal.

Trujillo says that the victories in these tournaments has given the team more confidence and motivation for the remainder of the season.

“The first two tournaments were great and we have a lot of potential to do a lot of big things,” Trujilio said. “Just like we did last year. The difference this year is we are confident and ready to play our best all the time.”

The only loss the Stars have seen in the 2013 season has been against the Blue Valley West High School Jaguars in which STA lost 2-0.

The Stars are currently ranked 15th in the nation according to the elitesoccerreport.com. The Elite Soccer Report evaluates and ranks boys and girls soccer teams across the country once a week. Prior to their loss against Blue Valley West the Stars had held the number two spot. STA is the second highest ranked Missouri team on the list, however.

According to Trujillo the rankings are just a bonus for the team rather than a be-all-end-all.

“I mean the national and state rankings are cool but we don’t pay that much attention to them,” Trujillo said. “We actually moved up a spot in the rankings before we even played any games this season so that was cool.”

Being the second ranked team in Missouri makes the postseason more promising for the Stars this year. The Stars defeated the Lee’s Summit North High School Broncos 3-0 April 10, a team STA has lost to in the District finals the past three years.

“I’m excited about post season,” Trujillo said. “The end of the season is always fun because we are playing our best soccer because we have built chemistry throughout the year. Plus we have something to play for. We all want to win state and we have a great shot to do it.”

Despite winning MVP in the Mo-KAN tournament and scoring five goals total in the Heart of America tournament, Trujillo says that afterwards she feels pressure to always do her best.

“It feels good to be MVP but it’s a lot of pressure,” Trujilio said. “You have to work harder than everyone else and if you end up not playing so hot in the next game or so you get a little discouraged.”

Following the Heart of America tournament the Stars were featured in the Kansas City Star for their victory. In their next game the Stars will take on the Shawnee Mission East High School Lancers at Shawnee Mission East at 12:00 p.m. April 27.

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