The St. Joseph girls soccer team rolled into its Mountain League season with a 9-0 non-league campaign.
The Knights took a lot of shots during their first two league games. Not many went in. St. Joseph lost its league opener 2-1 at Paso Robles then tied Santa Maria 1-1 at Santa Maria for an 0-1-1 league start.
St. Joseph (15-1-1, 6-1-1) has won six straight since. Senior midfielder Grace Mensah scored on a free kick during the first few minutes of her team’s home league game against Santa Ynez Tuesday night then tallied again in the second half. The Knights beat the Pirates 4-1.
“I think we came into the league playing a little soft,” Mensah, who signed with Oregon last fall, said. “We were 9-0, and we thought we could just go out there and win.
“We’re back on track now,” Mensah said.
“We’re back,” St. Joseph midfielder Marissa Jordan concurred.
Isabella Ruiz scored on a penalty kick for the Knights in the first half Tuesday night. Chanell Aceves, in a scramble in front of the Santa Ynez net, knocked in the last St. Joseph goal.
When league play started, “It was Jan. 3, and I think a lot of the players, myself included, had the mentality that we were on vacation,” said St. Joseph coach Djibril Coulibaly.
The St. Coach Joseph chuckled. “I still have the mentality that we are on vacation,” although the spring semester started a while ago.
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“But the players have re-directed themselves. They are on track again,” said Coulibaly. “I’m very proud of them.”
Ruiz leads the team in goals with 14, and Mensah has 13.
Djibril’s daughter, senior midfielder Zorah Coulibaly, has 11 goals this year. She led the team in scoring much of the season but has been out of the past several games.
“She still has a bit of a hamstring issue,” Djibril Coulibaly said. “We’ve been keeping her out for safety’s sake.”
Besides St. Joseph getting his scoring touch back, “The defense is strong,” said Jordan. The Knights have scored on a grand total of five times in the last six games, with one goal each in five games and one shutout.
The Santa Ynez goal was an own goal against St. Joseph. Other than that, Jordan and defenders Trinity Fuller and Abigail Zwilling helped goalkeepers Remy Waldron, the starter, and Annie Heybl, who came in late in the second half, keep the Pirates off the board.
Waldron and Heybl, who qualified for the Southern Cal golf tournament last fall, have been solid in goal for the Knights all season. St. Joseph has given up just 16 goals in total.
“We’re blessed to have those two back there,” said Mensah.
St. Joseph will host Santa Maria on Friday night at 6 pm and play at Atascadero on Monday night at 6 pm
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