Mission Bay boys and girls soccer teams look to be ready to leave their mark on the 2024-25 season after strong showings last year.
The boys team went undefeated last year culminating in a CIF Div. IV championship match 5-1 victory over Mater Dei Catholic High School. The boys already started off on the right foot this season thanks to a 2-1 win over Madison on Nov. 19.
“It’s going to be fun to see how we play this year,” said senior co-captain Jackson Vallani. “I’m expecting a lot of wins since we went undefeated last year.”
The team now plays in Div. III but will be competing against Div. II teams in league play, which will form part of its 16 total matches this season.
“I hope to help the team to a repeat of what we accomplished last time and can win it all again,” said senior co-captain Spencer Morton. “I felt we finished our chances versus Madison, and Jackson (Villani) scored the two good goals.”
Morton was not able to take part in the game against Madison but is expected to be an integral part of the team’s success just as he was during the championship run.
The girls team kicks off the regular season on Dec. 6 also against Madison after having gone 8-4-4 last year followed by a postseason victory over Steele Canyon in the first round before being eliminated in the quarterfinals by the eventual CIF Div. II champion Granite Hills.
“I think it’s going to be competitive again,” said head coach Jorge Palacios. “We have a real good group of freshmen coming in and it will be fun to see them progress during the season.”
The team has three returning seniors this year including Malayah Warner who should be an integral piece in building chemistry with so many new players on the roster. The girls will play a total of 10 games with six of those being at home including the regular season finale versus University City on Feb. 7. The four road matches will be against Escondido Charter on Dec. 18, Montgomery on Jan. 6, University City on Jan. 22 and Scripps Ranch on Jan. 29.
Besides Warner, the other players to keep an eye out for this season are juniors Mila Marzion and Alison Jones who came up big for the team last year.
