Natasha Menard

During their season, varsity girls soccer took on San Marcos High at home, winning the game 4-1. Junior Sophie Zlotnicki tries to regain control of the ball during the game.

Many times, a team will unite under a perfect set of conditions and excel, but when lightning strikes twice, a phenomenon is born.

Carlsbad’s girls soccer team worked its way up the competitive ladder to CIF finals and lost Saturday to Eastlake–a game they won last year to move forward one more tier to the State championship.

“It was a good follow-up to last season,” junior Sarah Harelson said. “We still won league this year, the only difference was going to state.”

Along with the fitness the girls maintained through rigorous cardio at practice, the players repeated success comes, to a large extent, from the youth in their team.

“We had 12 newcomers to varsity, compared to only five seniors” Harelson said.

Harelson, herself a three-year varsity athlete, speaks of the many freshman and sophomores whose skill worked them to the varsity level quicker than usual in the sport.

However, with such a young team, motivation and leadership are harder to use effectively.

“We weren’t intense captains this year,” senior team captain Kat Padgett said. “It was all business last year and we were much more comfortable this year.”

Last year’s young varsity players were weaned on a hard-line approach to leadership, while captains like Padgett suggest fostering team unity will work better in the long run.

“By the end of the year we knew what to expect of each other on and off the field,” Padgett said. ” We knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses and built up our confidence.”

In reflection of the old “team-bonding” cliché, the Carlsbad girls argue they share a tighter bond.

“We have really good chemistry,” Harelson said. “We are all close and can share anything with each other.”

While the team ended in an unfortunate loss,  it is hard to be negative in their defeat after a collective season record of 13-3-5.

“We still made it to CIF finals and won our league,” Padgett said.

As for next year, the young players will become the mentors and hope repeat their success for a third time.

“We can’t say no to another great season,” Harelson said. “We have to stay strong.”