The current 2017 women’s soccer team in their team photo.
Photo courtesy of Pete Schuler / Cuesta Athletics

By Michael Baird
Co-Sports Editor

Women’s soccer seeks to improve on a 3-13-14 record behind Head Coach Bob Wilson, who is entering his 23rd season with the team.

Wilson, with a Western State Conference record of 1-7-2 looks for needed improvement on his 2017-2018 season coaching the lady Cougars.

With the departure of veteran players Brooke Canepa, Christen Engel, Alyssa Harris and Sarah Siems, Cuesta will have to put extra energy and effort into each and every game on the schedule to clinch a spot in the playoffs.

Canepa, who was named to the 2016 All-Conference First Team after being a member of the Conference second team as a freshman.

Canepa was also named the team’s Most Valuable Player for the 2016 season, after earning the award first in 2015.

Engel was recognized on the All-Conference First Team as a freshman for her performance in the WSC for the 2015 season.

Engel was known for her high level of intensity and was a backbone of the defense while playing at Cuesta. Engel scored a goal while playing defense which shows how much intensity she put into her game. The defense does not score much in soccer because their job is to prevent the opposing team from scoring.

Harris opened her second season with a bang and scored in her first five games. Harris would go on and lead the team with 23 goals in the 2016 season.

No player at Cuesta has scored more than 23 goals in a season since 2011. The goals from Harris came at a time when the Cougars struggled to score and had very few bright spots during the season.

Siems played forward for the Cougars in 2015 and also began her sophomore season as a forward.

Siems scored a goal in the Cougars first win of the year, but injuries moved her to goalkeeper. Siems recorded 124 saves in the 2016 season. Siems is 10th on the all-time saves list at Cuesta.

Women’s soccer made their 2017-2018 season debut at home with a 4-1 win against Cerro Cosa.

Chenin Dotson, Rachel Foley, Emma Theroux and Sydnie Esser all scored.

The lady Cougars followed up with a matchup against West Hills. The game was very close and ended in a 3-3 draw with Foley, Mackenzie Wilson, Marina Garcia each scoring for the Cougars. The lady Cougars mounted a comeback from 3-0 to rally for the tie.

The Cougars matched up against Sacramento at home. In an eventual 3-0 win the Cougars outscored Sacramento.

Esser scored twice and Alison Morfoot added another goal to give Cuesta their second win of the season, bringing their overall record to 2-0-1. The Cougars current record is 3-4-2 through the first 9 games.