Title Defense

Behind a staunch defense, the Capital Christian girls soccer pushed “repeat” on their SJS Div. IV title

  By JIM McCUE | Senior Contributor

  Defending can be a challenging task.

  The Capital Christian girls’ soccer team understands the difficulty of defending and used it to their advantage to win the program’s second consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI championship on May 16.

  With a target on their backs all season, the Cougars (20-3-1) faced the challenge of defending the championship pedestal that every opponent wanted to knock them from. Knowing how tough defending can be, Capital Christian employed a diverse attack that brought waves of capable attackers rather than one primary scorer for opponents to mark. That strength in numbers broke down most foes and resulted in 17 different players finding the back of the net and a 118-16 scoring differential for the season.

  “The reason that we have been so successful is because we don’t depend on one or two players,” said senior Paige Florio, who led the Cougars with 19 goals and 11 assists. “Our style of play works because every person out there is strong.”

  Head coach Greg Armbrust preaches a possession game that relies upon players having the ability to both defend and attack. Forwards and midfielders must help defenders slow opponents’ attacks and take possession, and defenders are free to make runs and bring the ball upfield to initiate counterattacks. “You play the way you face,” Armbrust said. “If you can turn, then turn and go. It’s not dictated by what position you play.”

  The concept is simple, but not necessarily easy to get all 10 field players to buy into and coordinate seamlessly. Fortunately, Armbrust had five captains to help synchronize the team and lead by example, including seniors Florio, Brenna Lombardi, Gabby Rodarte and Lizzie Merrill.

  But leadership, defense and scoring was not accomplished solely by the seniors. Junior captain Maddie Brenton was a key contributor in the midfield and sophomore forward Korri Armbrust was a potent offensive threat. In her two years playing for her father, Korri scored the game-winning goal in both section finals. As a freshman, she tallied the Cougars’ lone goal in a 1-0 shutout of Amador, and she broke a 1-1 tie in Capital Christian’s 2-1 win over Modesto Christian this season.

  “We got goals from freshmen to seniors and everyone in between,” the coach said.

  One question mark heading into the season was in goal. With the graduation of goalkeeper Ashley Klein, there was a void at the back of the lineup. Junior Maddie Powell stepped up to assume the role despite having little experience at the position. She adapted to her new surroundings and helped the Cougars record 16 shutouts in 2015.

  One title that Capital Christian had not defended under Armbrust during his six years as head coach was a Golden Empire League title. West Campus-Sacramento had owned the league for several years and had been the monkey on the Cougars’ backs despite winning a section championship in 2014. Capital Christian had not earned a league crown since 2008 and had not defeated the Warriors since they joined the GEL in 2011, making winning a league title a priority nearly as high as defending the section title.

  Capital Christian dropped a 3-1 decision to West Campus on the road in the teams’ first meeting, but defeated the Warriors 4-1 at home to claim a share of the league crown.

  “Honestly, it was almost more exciting to beat West Campus and win league than it was to win sections again,” Florio said.

  That victory came in the middle of 12 consecutive wins to end the season, and was part of an impressive 11-1 mark in an improved GEL that added Natomas this season.

  “If you don’t have competition, then you don’t have a measuring stick,” Armbrust said. “You want to be able to play a good brand of soccer and learn to prepare for the playoffs.”

  Armbrust and the Cougars can count on plenty of heated competition to challenge their brand as they prepare to defend back-to-back section championships in 2016.