On Tuesday, Feb. 10, Legacy Ranch girls’ varsity soccer defeated Eastside Early College 7-0, ending the game before the second half even began. The team also secured a 7-0 win against Gateway College Preparatory on Feb. 13.<\/p>\n
Legacy Ranch has achieved an impressive seven consecutive district wins this season, earning a first-place spot in the district and a No. 214 ranking in the state. If that doesn\u2019t surprise you, consider this: The team is made up of 14 freshmen and five sophomores.<\/p>\n
How have the Lady Wranglers been dominating their opponents? Let\u2019s take a closer look.<\/p>\n
The team is led by Kaitlynn Lopez, marking her first season as a varsity coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time we’ve stepped out on that field, I believe we’ve gotten to know ourselves better,” Lopez said. “As a team full of freshmen and sophomores, being in our first year as a varsity team, there were adjustments getting used to playing older, physically bigger, stronger and faster players. Our girls have done a great job of adapting and making the most of our time so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team has now had two mercy-rule victories this season and is averaging leads of five or more goals per game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always something we can focus on and improve when we’re winning,” Lopez said. “Something we’ve focused on is maintaining possession and speed of play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lopez played soccer at Arizona State University.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was lucky enough to play for so many incredible coaches in my time as a player, and the thing that always stood out the most to me was knowing my coaches care. That’s what I try to carry forward and ensure my girls know I care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Legacy Ranch has a strong coach, but what about the players? Top performers Elynn McNabb and Sade Hurrington certainly carry significant responsibility. McNabb and Hurrington both hold key positions and consistently contribute game-winning goals.<\/p>\n
Both girls, freshmen, reflected on their transition from middle school soccer to varsity.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s definitely more challenging on the field as we\u2019re playing girls who have more experience and are more developed,” said Hurrington.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe transition was not big in my opinion,” McNabb added. “We’ve been playing together since seventh grade, so it felt just like middle school \u2014 except the girls were a little stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the pair has combined for more than 30 points this season, they remain humble and maintain a positive attitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cI enjoy playing with my teammates,” Hurrington said. “Whether it’s winning or losing, I just enjoy every moment, so I don’t see it as pressure. I welcome the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
This team has demonstrated remarkable success, leading with grace and resilience even in the face of adversity. They are defying the odds that suggest a new school and a first-year varsity program can\u2019t win.<\/p>\n
Legacy Ranch still has nine games left in its district season. Fans can show their support every Friday or Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re building something special here at the Ranch,” Lopez said. “We appreciate all the support and can\u2019t wait to see how far we can go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Tuesday, Feb. 10, Legacy Ranch girls’ varsity soccer defeated Eastside Early College 7-0, ending the game before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,193533,193531,193532,561,82],"class_list":["post-477312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-elynn-mcnabb","tag-kaitlynn-lopez","tag-sade-hurrington","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}