By Caleb Knudsen
The Healdsburg High soccer teams, boys and girls, have been battling it out since late November on local pitches, including the field on the east side of the school campus, along University Avenue. For the boys, their current record stands at 3-5-0 (w-l-t) in preseason play.
Leading scorer for the team is senior midfielder Edwin Vasquez, with 6 goals.
“The team is doing well; the boys have been very competitive despite the overall record,” said coach Herbert Lemus, back again to lead the boys this year.
“We are 3-2-0 (w-l-t) against teams in Division 4, which is good for us,” he said. As a Division 4 team itself, with registration of around 500 students, it shows they’re holding their own against like-sized schools. But against teams in higher divisions their record drops to 0-3, though the losses have been close: 1-0 to Piner, 2-1 to Maria Carrillo and 4-2 to Windsor.
Like most of Healdsburg’s teams, the soccer boys compete in the North Bay Redwood league, where unfortunately most other schools are larger, either Division 2 or 3 with registration between 1,000 and 1,900 students.
In their most recent game, the Greyhounds defeated Kelseyville 7-0 on Dec. 20, before the holiday break. They return to action with their league season starting on Tuesday, Jan. 9, at Santa Rosa. Other league rivals include Ukiah, Analy and Elsie Allen.
“We need to get healthy before the league starts on Jan. 9,” said Lemus. “We have a couple of our senior players that play the forward position that we would like to have back by then.”
The boys’ first home game is Thursday, Jan. 11, against Ukiah. Home games are Tuesdays and Thursdays, beginning at 7pm.
Girls Season Update
The girls soccer team is currently sitting on a winning record of 3-1-2. Their only loss came in late November, in a 3-1 game against Cloverdale. But the girls avenged that loss in their most recent match, beating Cloverdale 2-1 on Dec. 12.
Like the boys, the girls compete in the North Bay Redwood League, but it has a slightly different makeup. As well as Analy, Piner, Elsie Allen and Ukiah, the girls league includes a team from Rancho Cotate.
Girls matches are played on Wednesdays and Fridays. The girls first league game and home match is Wednesday, Jan. 10, against Ukiah, at 7pm.
