Girls’ soccer advanced to the NCS semifinals on February 22 but suffered a disappointing 2-0 loss against first seeded Bishop O’Dowd.

Previously, the girls’ finished second in the Diablo Foothill Athletic League behind Dublin.

Coach Ernesto Silva said, “Last year we won league but were knocked out in the first round of NCS, so this year I am very, very happy even though we have a young team and suffered a big loss with Val’s (Margerum) injury. We missed her but this team managed to work as one, and it’s because of the very talented young players that we did well.”

Senior Devon Bruzzone was understandably upset by the loss, but said, “we tried hard, and if there was a team to lose to, it would be them [O’Dowd].” Freshman AJ Morgan thought that the team could have done better. “We were trying to take possession and didn’t get as many shots as we wanted, but we played hard and as a team, which is important,” said Morgan.

The girls’ team ended their DFAL season with 6 wins, 3 ties, and 3 losses. Senior Captain Val Margerum said, “Dougherty Valley finished fifth in the league but ended up winning the entire NCS (last year), so we [Campo] were even more serious and focused for NCS.”

In the beginning of the season, the girls’ soccer team was not expected to win many games or go far due to their young team. Margerum said that despite the predictions, they were determined “to prove them wrong.”

Bruzzone was impressed since “the team is basically sophomores and freshmen, but this means next year and the next couple of years, [the team] will be very good.”

Team unity was an important factor of their success in both DFAL and NCS. According to Junior Sara Settle, team bonding has been strong: “We have team sleepovers which are really fun, and we get to really know each other.” Bruzzone even said that it was one of her best years since “everyone was so close, and the team is usually separated by grades.”

Next year, Silva believes that “they will go far and continue to play beautiful soccer.”