A new coach, playing field and division has set the girls’ varsity soccer team off to a new start.

After losing four players from last year and gaining two this year, the team is comprised of 18 players. Juniors Sarah Simonetti and Brooke Binkley are the newest additions to the team. “We might need to pull up junior varsity players if any of us get injured,” senior captain Megan Clendenin said.

Seniors Emmiliese Von Clemm and Clendenin are the co-captains this season. Out of the 18 players, 12 girls have been playing together since freshman year. Additionally, most of the girls compete in club teams during the fall and spring then unite to play for Gunn in the winter. “We are all tight even though we are enemies during club season,” Clendenin said. Simonetti seconded Clendenin’s claim. “Our strength is how well we get along,” she said.

The team’s strongest assets, according to coach Ed Cervantes, are its skill level and coherence. This year, the team moved down from the De Anza league to the El Camino league. “Our goal is to do well in El Camino league and get promoted to De Anza, and I think we are in a good position to do that,” Cervantes said. “Playing together for so many years provides for a very unified group—the girls complement each other pretty well. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and they balance each other out.”

The first pre-season game was Nov. 22 against Burlingame High School, where the girls showed prominent potential, according to Clendenin. “You always get nervous before the first game, but we pulled through nicely to win and the game looked very promising,” Clendenin said.

The team also played in a tournament over Thanksgiving break. The girls won one game and lost two. “We played the winners from last year’s Central Coast Section (CCS), so the competition was tough, and yet the girls put on a great fight,” Cervantes said.

Cervantes coached Gunn soccer from 2000 to 2003, prior to returning this year. “The girls are still getting adjusted to me as a coach, the new style,” Cervantes said. Simonetti agreed. “Ed is prepping us really nicely, but we are still adjusting.”

Cervantes has noticed the girls play a great passing game, hold good possession and work with one another really well. He said the main target for this season is to stay consistent with their strength and stamina. “We have a high chance of getting to CCS, but I don’t want to jinx it,” Simonetti said.

Despite the fact that Palo Alto High School (Paly) and Gunn are now in different leagues, the girls played Paly last Friday. The girls all wanted to play them “because they are our rivals, and it was a close game the first time we played them last year,” senior Sabina Sood explained, referring to the 1-2 score.

Paly lost Theresa Noyola, a strong player who graduated last year, but according to senior Libby Burch, Paly still has a very strong team. “It’s an unwritten law that we have to play Paly,” Burch said.

Games continue through mid-February, and the first round of CCS will take place on Feb. 17.