Girls soccer conquers Bernstein

Tiyrah Miller

Crimson Chronicle Reporter

The girls’ soccer varsity team dominated with a 10-0 blowout against their rivals, Helen Bernstein High School, during the first game of their season.

“On game day we all honestly felt nervous. That’s just how it is everytime we play against our rivals,” said Alexandra Vasquez, team captain. Although the school’s rivalry with Bernstein isn’t as intense as the USC vs. UCLA rivalry, there will always be that tension. 

As their first and upcoming game had to be with their rivals, the practice had to go up a notch. “Practice had become a challenge, we ran four laps everyday. It was absolutely mandatory to attend, excuses must be approved by Ms. Guzman for it to count,” said Alexandra. 

Though the team was preparing heavily for the game, they had not expected a huge lead. “I expected to maybe 3-0, I was ready for a hard game,” said Alexandra.

The team found that Bernstein did not have enough girls for their JV team when starting the game, giving Hollywood the advantage as they had more than enough for both teams. Aware that they had the upper hand in quantity, they still took the game seriously. 

“I loved the fact that early on in the game our communication was very strong and everyone was in game mode,” Alexandra said. 

The tension on the field grew as Hollywood had scored four goals and Berenstein hadn’t scored despite their growing defense. “I touched the ball maybe once the entire game, that is how it should be. They ate. We did a good job,” said Brook’lynn Sanders, the goalie.

As the team realized they’d practically won, the tension shifted from the team and Bernstein to a playful tension between the team itself. “Instead of battling the other team we were more so arguing about who would get to shoot the next goal,” said forward Lannie Garcia. 

As a result, the game panned out more fun than they’d expected. “Everyone got their chance to shoot and overall it was a lot of fun,” said Alexandra. 

The team is undefeated so far, winning 10-0 against Bernstein, 3-0 against Mendez, and 4-1 against East Valley. Because of their winning streak, Alexandra believes they could be the champions this year but has no plans of jinxing it.