A record breaking season

A recap of the girls 22-23 soccer season

BY DAVID RAYMOND AND THOMAS JETT

Sports Editor and Staff Reporter

The Sequoia girls soccer team came into the season after qualifying for Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs in the 2021/22 season. The team was focused and ready to achieve going into preseason play.

“For the preseason we just wanted to see how each other played and make sure we gel and have chemistry going into the season,” senior midfielder and forward Addison Hawes said.

The message of improving was echoed by other teammates too.

“We went into [the preseason] just wanting to get better,” sophomore forward Teagan Tokheim said.

The preseason concluded with Sequoia carrying four wins, two ties, and no losses.This was highlighted by close wins such as a 2-1 victory over Menlo School, and a 2-1 victory away at Terra Nova. The preseason success served as an indicator of things to come.

“The team was very satisfied with the preseason,” junior center back Aminah Evans said, “However I think we came into the season a little too comfortable because of how well we did in the preseason.”

Sequoia went into the league in the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) bay division which is the top and most competitive division in the PAL, meaning that they would be playing against tougher teams than in the preseason.

“We felt pretty strong going into the (league) season,” Hawes said.

However, in their first game, Sequoia lost Sequoia won with a score of 2-1 at home to Hillsdale highschool.

“Right after the game the other captain Aminah Evans and I had a big talk [with the team],” Hawes said. “We went over that there are good teams in our league and that we are going to have to play together and play as one in order to get good results against these teams.”

The team rallied after these talks to beat rivals Carlmont and Woodside later in the season, a 2-1 victory away at Carlmont stood out as a key point in the season.

“We kept our energy throughout the entire game and we didn’t let them take over,” Hawes said.

Another key victory was a 2-1 home win against a Woodside team who went on to finish third in the Bay division.

At the end of the league season, Sequoia finished with four wins, three losses, and three draws in the league and finished second overall behind Menlo-Atherton.

After a successful league campaign Sequoia was seeded second overall in CCS division one. This eight team single elimination bracket would be decided over the next three games. Going into the playoffs, expectations were high.

“The goal was definitely to win CCS,” Evans said, “We did not come in too confident, we worked hard every day and treated every game like it was the hardest we were going to play.”

In the first round, Sequoia was matched up against seventh seeded Westmont, however Sequoia would be without captain Addison Hawes for this matchup. Even without the senior captain Sequoia still managed a 2-1 victory to send them to the semi-finals.

“We were a little worried,” Evans said, “Everyone worked as hard as they could and we made it work without one of our top goal scorers.”

After this matchup the team still had work to do to achieve their goals.

“After the first game we found a new confidence,” Tokheim said, “We started to think. Oh, we can really win this thing.” The semi-final matchup was another home game against Los Gatos which ended with no goals in a 0-0 tie.

“I think we should have been up more,” Tohkeim said, “All season making shots had been a struggle for us.”

Overtime would be contested with two 15 minute periods, if the game was still tied after that then it would go to penalty shots, the team wanted to leave nothing up to chance and risk losing the penalty shootout in a game they wanted to win.

“[The message was] ok guys we have to do this, we go into PKs (penalty kicks) and we can’t have it all be up in the air,” Tokheim said.

This request was granted in the second period of overtime with a goal from Addison Hawes.

“We put in the effort and we really cared, and I think that really showed when we had to go into overtime and not let up.”

Sequoia held strong for the rest of overtime and finished out the game in a 1-0 victory sending them to the final.

Up until this point no Sequoia girls team had ever made it to a CCS division one championship game, let alone win one.

“Everyone was stoked and grateful about how far we were able to go and everyone was excited to be in that position,” Hawes said.

The laid back yet focused message ran through the entire team.

“(Head coach Melissa) Schmidt had a conversation with us saying, ‘This is the fun stuff,’” Tokheim said.

The final was set to be played against Aragon, a familiar opponent for the Ravens.

“We scrimaged against them the week before and we beat them 4-1,” Tokheim said.

In the end Sequoia knocked off Aragon in a 1-0 win with a first half goal to become the first CCS Division one champions in Sequoia history.

After their CCS championship the Ravens moved on to California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Regional playoffs. This time they were seeded first overall in an eight team bracket similar to CCS.In the first round Sequoia beat Piedmont in another overtime victory with a final score of 2-1.

This game sent them to the semi-finals where they would face off against Cardinal Newmann. The Ravens ultimately lost this game 2-1 putting an end to a record breaking season.

“As bad as the loss did sting, I’m still proud of the team,” Hawes said.

Sequoia soccer rewrote the record books in the 2022-23 season and left a legacy for the teams to follow.

Everyone is getting better and better and it’s really exciting,” Tokheim said.

The future is bright for Sequoia girls soccer and they have cemented their place in school history.

“It feels awesome, Sequoia girls soccer is finally being recognized and it’s awesome,” Evans said.