Girls soccer ended their season with a 1-0 loss in the CIF state regional playoff game against Granada Hills Charter, March 3. Midfielder Kaitlyn Arciaga (12) said that she was anxious that this would be her final time playing for Westview. 

“As a senior, I was nervous before the game that it was going to be our last game, and I think a lot of that kind of gets into your head,” she said. “Our team is full of seniors, so none of us wanted that to be our last game, but that’s just how it happened.”

Since they had never played Granada Hills before, Arciaga said that the team was going in completely blind. However, as the game progressed, they quickly clocked one of their opponent’s strategies: dropping back during crosses in order to defend the box. 

“They piled players into the box if they thought the cross was going to come off,” Arciaga said. “They put everyone back, so then it was like our two or three players in the middle against their six defenders and center mids.”

To counter this, the Wolverines played an aggressive offense, taking shots from the outside or dribbling up to the goal rather than attempting to risk crossing. Despite this approach, the first half ended 0-0. Midfielder Maya Calderon (9) said that even though they didn’t score, the team wasn’t discouraged. 

“I think we were all feeling good at halftime because we had the ball a lot more than the other team during the first half and we were doing a lot better [than Granada Hills],” she said.

Although the game remained 0-0 throughout the third quarter, that quickly changed near the end of the fourth quarter. With six minutes and 17 seconds left on the clock, a Granada Hills player made a cross that sailed over Westview’s defensive line, finding an open player at the back post who tapped the ball in and scored the first and only goal of the game.

Keeper Soraya Souvanaphong (12) said that although Westview was leading in possession and shots the entire game, Granada Hills still broke the tie. 

“I feel like we controlled the game,” Souvanaphong said. “We had possession of the ball most of the time, but we just couldn’t really get a goal, and I guess we just slacked towards the end and they got a last-minute goal.”

Souvanaphong said that after the goal, Westview gave their all for the remainder of the game, with Bailie Govek (12) making a run through the defenders and crossing. However, the team couldn’t follow through, and the game ended 1-0. 

“Towards the end of the game, everybody was just trying to put everything out onto the field so that we could get a goal,” Souvanaphong said. 

Souvanaphong said she was disappointed that the season ended with a loss after playing with the team for her whole high school career. 

“I walked off the field and sat down and I just broke down,” she said. “[Coach] Peter gave us a speech and he said something and then everybody just started crying, so it was sad. It was our last game and I’ve been on the team for four years, so just seeing how the team has grown and for it to end this way was not the greatest feeling.”

Leading up to this game, the team played San Marcos in the Open Division semifinals, where they lost 2-1 in overtime, Feb. 26. 

With one minute left in the second half, Westview was down 1-0 when Mya Omisore (11) passed a through ball to Calderon, who shot and scored. The crowd cheered and waved black and gold pom poms as the team rushed toward Calderon and celebrated her first ever goal for Westview, which tied the game 1-1. 

“That was my only goal of this season,” Calderon said. “It was definitely a really big moment for me because it was in the last few minutes too, and I thought it would help keep the CIF journey going.”

Since the game ended in a tie, the teams went into 15 minutes of overtime. Souvanaphong said that as the team stepped back onto the field, they felt energized and ready to dominate San Marcos.

“We were pumped,” she said. “This was our third time playing San Marcos the entire year, so we really wanted to stick it to them for this last time, especially in such a big game.”

Despite the team’s efforts, San Marcos scored off a corner kick two minutes into overtime, ending the game with a final score of 2-1. Arciaga said that even though they lost, she’s proud of the team for making it so far.

“We wouldn’t have made it how far we did if we weren’t a great team and we didn’t work together well,” she said. “I do think that every single game we got to play in, we deserved to be there and we deserved to have that competition. Overall, I think we played to our fullest potential, especially at the San Marcos game.”

Arciaga also said that her teammates were the ones who made her final season so enjoyable. 

“This year was one of the most special years because I got to celebrate my senior year with all my friends,” Arciaga said. “The biggest thing for me was less about the fact that I’m not going to play soccer again and more about the fact that these girls have become my best friends and I’m not going to be able to step on the pitch with them or have any pregame drives and sing in the car [with them]. I’m just honored to have had the opportunity to play on the team.”