Dragons Remain Perfect in CIF Norcal Championship

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This Bishop O'Dowd Girl's Soccer team is a special group of talent. A group of talent that we have not seen on the high school circuit in a very long time, if ever. This season they are the West Alameda County League Champions, Open Division NCS Champions, Division 1 CIF Norcal Champions, and post an untarnished 19-0-0 record headed into the State Championship match on Saturday against Mater Dei. The Dragons have allowed only 4 goals all season and have scored an incredible 102 goals. As someone that watches a lot of youth soccer around the country throughout the year, in my opinion this squad could compete against any ECNL or Girl's Academy U17 team in the nation. They're that good. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On their way to collecting their 3rd piece of silverware this season the Dragons blasted through Buchanan High School 4-0 in a dominating performance in front of around 2,000 people. This young Buchanan Bears team had a long drive up from Fresno to face Bishop O'Dowd after an overtime PK's win against the Carondelet Cougars on Thursday evening. The Bears had a youthful look with 15 sophomores and a handful of freshmen playing significant minutes and they just could not keep up with this more experienced Dragons team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There was hope for the Bears coming in to this game with 3 of the Dragons best players missing Chloe Keating, [player_tooltip player_id='268395' first='Paloma' last='John-Baptiste'], and [player_tooltip player_id='268387' first='Ana' last='Pintard'] were all out for Coach Mark Saviddes. He had to turn to his bench and they delivered in a big way. Gatorade Player of the Year candidate [player_tooltip player_id='111260' first='Abby' last='Forsgren'] was quick to point out the play of the girls who haven't gotten as many minutes this season or players shuffling around and stepping up to play different roles as a huge reason for the win. "Ava (Johnson) and Ari (Arianna Brennan) were able to step up and beat players down the wings. Audrey (Lewis) stepping up to play outside back despite playing striker all season. Remi (Hayes) and Coco (Vu) brought a lot of energy and technical execution in such a big game was huge for us." Forsgren herself helped opened the scoring as she got on the end of a pass on the side of the 18 yard box to play a lovely ball across the goal with her left foot to a crashing Kiana Lee Olson who buried it in the corner with a lot of power. Freshmen phenom [player_tooltip player_id='276576' first='Sadie' last='Siedel'] scored the second and fourth goals. The 4th being one of the best high school goals I've ever seen as she calmly dribbled around 3 defenders inside the 18 and curled a ball into the far left corner with her left foot. The third goal was scored by you guessed it [player_tooltip player_id='111260' first='Abby' last='Forsgren']. With 1 goal and 1 assist in this game that brings her season totals to 34 and 29 respectively.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>So many players have made their impact on this team. It's the middle and bottom of this roster that makes this team so special. Junior [player_tooltip player_id='262640' first='Dahlia' last='Anderson'] has had a fantastic season and playoff run. The [program_tooltip program_id='283434' first='Pleasanton' last='Rage'] defensive midfielder is uncommitted and really shouldn't be. She is a fantastic disruptor of play and very solid in possession. She has an excellent relationship with her midfield partner Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='186203' first='Katelyn' last='Wong']. The Mustang talent is a work horse in midfield she's up, down, here, there and everywhere as well as fearless. [player_tooltip player_id='278320' first='Audrey' last='Lewis'] had an incredible game against Buchanan filling in for [player_tooltip player_id='268387' first='Ana' last='Pintard'] in the back line who got hurt in the previous round against Los Gatos. Lewis answered the call as if she has played that role all season, completing passes, breaking lines and reading the opposition with amazing proficiency for a player who normally plays further forward. Senior captains Rylie Pintard and Kacey DeMarco were the unsung heroes throughout this playoff run and season. Both defenders seem to be the emotional leaders for this team keeping everyone together and motivated. Pintard was exceptional against Los Gatos matching up against a Stanford commit and doing an incredible job in slowing her down. DeMarco was moved to the Center Back of a back 3 against Buchanan and swept up everything that came her way.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This team is very deep. And with one more win they will have the opportunity to achieve the immortality that comes along with a perfect season High School season. They are banged up yes, but this team has found a way in the past. Mater Dei is a name that is synonymous with high school sports success. Not just in California but in the whole country. This is not new for them. They have big names on their roster like Sophomore National Team star [player_tooltip player_id='147282' first='Kendra' last='Hansen']. The Dragons have been pushed to the brink this season. Needing overtime to beat Carondelet and an off the line clearance in the dying moments of a well contested 2-1 win against Los Gatos. Can this historical season be completed? We will find out this Saturday night at 5:30PM at Natomas High School. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->