Having handled pressure, Patriots set to do it one more time

Lexie Jimenez (right), the team's scoring leader, maneuvers during practice. (Photo by Action Captures Media Group)

By Doug Spoon, Editor

It’s a project that has been in the works for four years, and now it’s time for the final test.

The Heritage High School girls soccer team, led by a group of seniors who have been varsity teammates for four seasons, has been steadily improving over the course of time. Nothing has been more impressive than the Patriots’ performance so far in the CIF-SS Division 5 playoffs, in which they have won four one-goal games.

Now, having compiled an 18-8-1 record and showing no signs of letting up, the Patriots will play host to Viewpoint High of Calabasas Friday at 7 p.m. in the Division 5 championship game.

Viewpoint, also named the Patriots, has a more modest 9-5-5 overall record, but it has also performed well under pressure in the playoffs, winning three of its four games by one goal. So it should be a competitive contest when the teams meet in the Heritage stadium Friday night.

To Heritage coach Michael Mattison (right), the situation will be the same as it has been all season long. The team’s secret has been to build on small successes, letting the big goal shine brighter as they approach it.

“If we’re only result-oriented, worrying about the outcome of the game … that’s not going to determine if we’re being successful or not,” Mattison said. “All year long, we’ve just worked at getting better, as the game progresses and from game to game. We’ve tried really hard to create an atmosphere where we’re always positive and supporting each other.

“Every game has been a one-goal game, but we haven’t felt too pressured. We’ve stayed pretty calm for most of those games.”

Most observers would consider such a sense of calm in tie playoff games to be an immense challenge. Perhaps so, but under pressure or not, the Patriots have turned every one of those ties into a one-goal victory.

The first came in the first round on Feb. 12, when Heritage and Muir went into “golden goal” or sudden death overtime tied 1-1. The Patriots had scored early in the second half on a goal by Lexie Jimenez, but what could have been a momentum-killing play came in the final minute of regulation play when Muir scored to tie the game.

Undaunted, the Patriots held their ground in the 10-minute overtime, forcing the game to a penalty kick shootout to decide the outcome. Three Heritage players then scored on penalty kicks, goalkeeper Brisa Quiroz made big saves, and the Patriots held on for the victory.

Remarkably, round 2 ended up in another penalty kick shootout in a scoreless tie with Rialto. During that shootout, Heritage scored on penalty kicks by Isela Laban, Yahaira Sevillano and Rebecca MayHernandez. Meanwhile, Quiroz blocked two of the first three Rialto kicks, sealing the victory.

“My favorite moment was the PK shootout against Rialto,” said Quiroz (left). “Last game too, when I saved a one-on-one. Plays like that are crucial.”

In the quarterfinals, Kaila Castellanos scored the only goal of the game with about 20 seconds left in regulation play. Then last Saturday in the semifinals, Castellanos scored the game’s only goal early in the game as Heritage defeated Patriot High, 1-0.

So after beating Patriot to get to the finals, the Patriots will play the Patriots for the trophy.

“I didn’t imagine us going this far,” said Jimenez, who set a school record with 31 goals so far this season. “I knew how strong our team was going to be, though. Our chemistry is great. We push each other all the time in practice and that makes us better.”

Danica Doskocil is one of the seniors who has played all four seasons on varsity. She ranks second on the team in assists with 15.

“We lost a lot of seniors coming into this season, so I was kind of scared,” she said. “But I’ve played with these girls growing up, so I knew we were going to be good. I just didn’t think we’d be this good.”

Doskocil is one of several players who downplayed the pressure aspect in an interview this week.

“It is pressure, but it’s reassuring,” she said, speaking of the way the Patriots have performed with the game on the line. “It gives me confidence that under pressure, we can do OK. When we’re in the golden goal overtime, we know we can win. And we’re good in penalty kicks.”

Yahaira Sevillano has been one of the strongest members of a tough defensive unit this season.

“I really enjoy this team,” she said. “My senior year has been really different. I feel like we’re more of a family. The freshmen came in and fit in really smoothly.”

Mattison, who had never previously taken a team past the second round of the playoffs, can’t say enough about the Patriots’ defense.

“It’s one of our strengths,” he admits. “We have a lot of selfless players. There’s two senior defenders, two freshman defenders and a senior goalkeeper. And a lot of it is our goalkeeper.

“She’s just tremendous. She’s great in 2-on-1 situations. She gives the girls a lot of confidence because they know most shots, she’s going to save. There’s that confidence that you can take chances defensively because you have a senior goalkeeper who makes big plays.”

So as the Patriots prepare for their biggest game yet, Mattison is trying to keep the focus on the basics, as usual.

“Our goal coming into the season … obviously, you always want to win league, but our goal was to do better in CIF than we’ve done in the past. ‘Let’s get into the second round and have fun and enjoy it.’ We didn’t say ‘Let’s win CIF’ as our goal. If you make that your goal, you’re probably not going to be happy, because only one team does that.”

That’s true, but on Friday, Heritage could be that one team.

Danica Doskocil is another one of the team's top scorers. (Photo by Action Captures Media Group)

 From left: Yahaira Sevillano, Danica Doskocil, Lexie Jimenez. (Photo by Action Captures Media Group)