WMS Cardinals win YCAL Championship

By Sydney Andrade

Express staff writer

On Thursday, April 20 the Winter Middle School girls soccer team won the YCAL (York County Alliance for Learning) Championships against Douglass Middle School by a score of 4–3.

“We were down 2–0 early in the game and then 3–1 … I think deep down inside all the girls knew we could still win the game. They were so focused on realizing this objective they had set out from the beginning of the season. They left it all out on the field,” said head coach Alex Monsalve. While Maci Dodic scored all four goals for the Cardinals, with assists from Aylin Molina and Idaly Sanchez the victory was truly a team effort.

“Ava Coker was a true leader in the defensive third. The attack was great and resilient. Every goal we scored edged the momentum close to us until we grabbed the winner with 12 min- utes left,” said Monsalve.

Dodic was on fire against Douglass, scoring all four goals for Winters, with assists from both Aylin Molina and Idaly Sanchez.

The skill and talent that was out on the field was inspiring. The team was well-balanced in all positions. The girls played a very smart game and they wanted to win so badly. They were resilient. They were talking to each other and working together and ultimately that is what gave them the edge they needed over Douglass.

While everyone was fit to play in the YCAL Championship games, there were some injuries throughout the season that required the sixth and seventh graders to step up and fill in for the eighth graders while they recovered.

“A special thank you to the eighth graders for being amazing leaders and setting a great example for our sixth and seventh graders,” said Monsalve.

The WMS girls soccer team is the 2023 YCAL Champions, an achievement that Winters can hopefully continue to replicate in future seasons.

Jordan Wojan, a Winters High School sophomore, is Pisani’s Athlete of the Week. Although he’s still learning the ins and outs of the game, Wojan has been a key contributor to the junior varsity baseball squad’s undefeated season making plays reminiscent of a crafty veteran. “Jordan’s a right-hander who’s got speed, he’s stolen a lot of bases and he’s learned how to hit to the opposite field,” raved junior varsity head coach, Manny Garcia. “He’s very easy going, he listens and just comes and plays.”