Coming into the season with a lot of newcomers, to not only the team but the game in general, Sedona Red Rock High School’s girls soccer team knew that there would be some rough games, especially against older, more experienced teams. One of those games took place on Saturday, Oct. 17 against Chino Valley.
The Cougars struck early and throughout the first half, opening up a 7-0 lead at halftime. They added another goal in the second half. As Arizona Interscholastic Association rules dictate, any game with a goal differential of six or more is called after 60 minutes instead of 80. So, with 20 minutes remaining, the head referee blew his whistle to end the game at 8-0.
Sedona coach Juan Carlos Aguilar liked the team’s effort, especially as the game got increasingly lopsided, but wished it was more consistent. That was an opinion shared by senior goalkeeper Bella Horton.
“It’s something that happens a lot, where we come back a lot stronger in the second half where we start remembering what we need to be doing,” Horton said. “It’s just so tough that we can’t realize that in the first half.”
One of the biggest issues the Scorpions face is a natural byproduct of having little experience playing soccer and even less playing with each other — a lack of teamwork. This manifested itself on both ends of the field against Chino Valley.
While all eight of the goals will go on Horton’s record, there was very little that she could have done to prevent any of them. On offense, Sedona’s few runs were stopped before they could turn into a shot on net. This was largely because those runs generally featured one or two Scorpions being surrounded by Cougar defenders.
Senior Hannah Simpson feels that it’s been a common issue for the team throughout the year, especially when Sedona has been facing large deficits.
“We see that we’re losing and losing and losing and losing — and instead of trying to change it we just kind of stay in that place,” she said. “That’s something that I personally and I’m sure Bella really wants to work on is getting the entire team to a place that is, ‘Hey, you need to be positive. Even if we’re losing 20-0, you need to be going as hard as you can and trying to do everything that you can.’”
Three games remain on the SRRHS schedule. On Wednesday, Oct. 21 the Scorpions will go on the road for a 4 p.m. game against Payson. The final home game of the season will be on Saturday, Oct. 24 against Show Low at 2 p.m. while the season finale will be at Chino Valley on Tuesday, Oct. 27, also at 2 p.m.
Sedona’s closest game of the season was a 3-2 defeat to Payson in the season opener. Aguilar knows that if the team is going to get a win on the year, the rematch with Payson will likely be the best opportunity.
“We have to be realistic,” the coach said. “We’re going against bigger and stronger teams. My goal for me when we go against Payson — a team that is more even with our skills — that we can do better. So in that Wednesday game I want to do something better.”
Winning one of the final games is obviously a goal for the Scorpions, especially Horton and Simpson.
But beyond earning a win, the team’s two outgoing seniors hope that they can help instill an attitude in their teammates that will serve them well in future seasons as well as life outside of soccer.
“We keep looking at teams and saying things like ‘Oh, this team is state champ. This team is winning consistently,’” Horton said. “We get very intimidated easily because we’re a new team. That’s just it. We can’t get over that mental block sometimes. Hopefully we can eventually.”
“We’re leaving and only about five of us were on the team last year and we were a really close team last year,” Simpson added. “What I personally want to pass on is the mentality of positivity and having something to care about instead of giving up when things get tough. That’s not how life works.”
