With the Millikan girls soccer season finally starting, the lady rams are preparing for another successful season where they hope to take home first in the Moore League.
Last season, varsity went 12-0 in the Moore League, placing first with an overall record of 18-3-2. Varsity, Frosh, and JV all won first place in the Moore League, completing the perfect trifecta season. This year, they hope to have a repeat and continue varsity’s streak of two year Moore League Champions.
Mia Perez, a sophmore and JV player in PEACE, says, “The chemistry [on the team] is good this year.” She also mentioned how most of the JV team is comprised of last year’s Frosh/Soph team.
The Varsity squad had its first match against Huntington Beach High School on Dec. 2, 2024. Both teams scored a goal in the second half, tying the game at 1-1. Three days later on Dec. 5, they had their second game against Wilson, losing at 0-2, both games based on their Max Preps game results, their first loss against Wilson in years.
During pre-season, there have already been multiple injuries. In Varsity alone, these injuries have already taken three girls out for most likely the whole season. Mr. Cruz, Millikan science teacher and the JV head coach and assistant Varsity coach says “We lost three girls to ACL injuries [this season].”
Mr. Cruz also explained, “We’ve been working on the mental aspect of the game,” to get ready for the season. When talking about this year’s varsity season he stated, “a lot of these girls have gone through Frosh/Soph and JV, so now they’re on varsity and they know how to play. The biggest obstacle is figuring out how to play as a team.”
Our Varsity Lady Rams continue to practice and have scrimmages as they prepare for this year’s season, which started on Dec. 5 with a loss by Wilson. Following is a tournament game against Roosevelt on Dec. 14, 2024. Despite the rough start to the season, hard work from everyone and determination could allow for the Rams to take home the trophy once again.
Sophia Ackerman • Jan 14, 2025 at 3:03 pm
On January 10, 2025, Rhyan Jeffer wrote an article titled “Millikan Girls Soccer”. This article details how our very own girls soccer team is preparing for another successful season and is hoping to take home first place in Moore League. The author explains that this is seen to be so achievable because of their impressive season last year where they went 12-0 with all teams winning the league. Jeffer explains this as a “Perfect trifecta season”.
It then goes on to talk about these lady Rams first few games of the year. They went 1-1 with Huntington Beach during a pre-season scrimmage and unfortunately lost 2-0 to Wilson, being the first time in years Millikan has fallen to Wilson. Unfortunately, only on the varsity team, three players have already been benched for the entire season all due to the same injury, a torn ACL. This creates struggles with subs but also removes players who previously have had chemistry with the team. Therefore, Cruz Cardenas, the JV coach, explains that varsity’s biggest obstacle is figuring out how to play as a team. Something that could have advanced this part of the article would have been asking Tino Nunez, the head varsity coach, questions in order to more deeply understand the brains behind this team and how they are going to tackle the season.
Continuing, Jeffer states that this team continues to train hard and prepare for upcoming games, and despite their early loss and rough start to the season, if everyone works hard there is still a chance to take home the Moore League trophy.
Melanie Castorena • Jan 14, 2025 at 1:59 pm
Dear Corydon Editor,
On January 10, 2025, Rhyan Keffer wrote an article titled “Millikan Girls Soccer”. This article provides insight to the girls soccer team and how they’re beginning their season. Keffer includes inside quotes from girls in the team and the coach which is a great way to show how the team has developed from an inside perspective. Specifically a message from Mia Perez, a sophomore on JV, shares that the “chemistry [on the team] is good this year.”
My favorite feature Keffer’s amazing article is the last sentence of the article. Keffer mentions, “Despite the rough start to the season, hard work from everyone and determination could allow the Rams to take home the trophy once again.” I think that by highlighting this part of the story people are able to realize the true meaning of the team. Being on the team should be about believing in yourself and preserving through any struggles.
I think it was important that Keffer mentioned the struggles that the team has faced so far in this season and how they plan to take on the rest of the season. The author has included the records of the team so far which shows that even though they came off to a rough start they will continue to work to hopefully win Moore League again.
Sincerely,
Melanie Castorena
Reese Lao • Jan 14, 2025 at 1:57 pm
Dear Corydon Editor,
On January 10, 2025, Rhyan Keffer wrote an article titled “Millikan Girls Soccer.” This paper dives into the details of the girls soccer team at Millikan. As a team that has been very successful in the past years, there are high expectations for them to do well in this 2024-2025 season. Keffer states how last season all
three teams in the program took the title of Moore League Champions. The reporter demonstrates how this is the goal of all teams for this year’s season.
Keffer then includes words from Mr. Cruz Cardenas, a teacher here at Millikan who is also a coach in the program. He says that this season had a rough start due to a large number of ACL injuries across the teams. This injury in the knee takes out players for months on end. With teams that are packed with experienced players, the main goal of this season is to improve the mental aspect and the ability to play as a team. Mr. Cruz claims that if this is successful, the Lady Rams will have a rewarding season.
This article does an admirable job of providing lots of factual information upon the Millikan Girls Soccer program. There are words from coaches, in addition to current players. Keffer also pulls data and scores from games to include in their writing; further creating a more clear picture of how the season is going to unfold for the girl’s soccer teams at Millikan. The article explains why the expectations are so high for the Lady Rams, and the strategies in which the teams are planning to use to meet them. One suggestion would be to include interviews from all teams in order to gain different perspectives from players at different levels.
Hailey sawday • Jan 14, 2025 at 1:53 pm
Dear Corydon Editor,
On January 10, 2025, Rhyan Keffer wrote an article titled, “Millikan Girls Soccer”. Throughout this article Keffer makes note of the Millikan Girls Soccer team as they begin their 2025 Soccer season. Keffer mentions how last year the soccer team was able to place first in Moore league with an overall record of 18-3-2. She describes their desires as they hope to complete another perfect trifecta season with Varsity, JV, and Frosh all winning.
Throughout the text Keffer adds personal commentary from teammates and coaches which builds connection between the audience and the author, adding to the complexity of the article. Keffer continues by alluding to recent games and their performance mentioning how multiple injuries have slowed down the players and overall affected the beginning of their season.
To conclude Keffer leaves the audience with some motivation and inspiring words as well as informing the reader about upcoming games including where and when they are held. Overall, this article is very well crafted as it is informative, and short, but has a high level of complexity throughout.
Mariana Jimenez • Jan 14, 2025 at 1:48 pm
January 14, 2025
Dear Corydon Editor,
On January 10, 2025, Rhyan Keffer wrote an article titled “Millikan Girl Soccer.” I really enjoyed reading about the Millikan girls soccer team and their goals for this season. The Lady Rams’ perfect 12-0 record in the Moore league last year is an amazing accomplishment, and it’s exciting that they are aiming to do it again this year. It’s also great to see all three teams-Varsity, JV, Frosh- finish in first place last season. That shows how strong the whole program is.
I like how the team is focusing on the mental side of the game, which is so critical. Coach Cruz’s focus on building team chemistry and helping the players stay positive through challenges will definitely pay off.
Mia Perez’s comment about the team’s chemistry really stands out. It’s clear that the girls have a strong bond, which will help them bounce back from setbacks like injuries. Even with the tough start to the season, I believe the team has the talent and determination to keep pushing forward and make this another successful year.
Sincerely,
Mariana Jimenez
Salma Cortes • Jan 14, 2025 at 10:14 am
Dear Corydon Editor,
On January 10, 2025 Rhyan Keffer wrote an article titled “Millikan Girls Soccer”. In this article Keffer informs the audience on how the Millikan girls soccer team is looking as the season rapidly continues. She begins by emphasizing how Millikan has always dominated the Moore League by having various back-to-back titles throughout all levels (Frosh, JV, and Varsity). After acknowledging the program as a whole, she then goes into the fact that the JV team is composed primarily of last year’s Frosh team making the chemistry of the team stronger according to Mia Perez, a player on the JV team. Keffler then moves onto the Varsity squad where she expresses how they have had to battle the challenge of losing multiple players to ACL tears that are most likely going to keep them out for the whole season. These challenges have caused them to lose a few games but the determination and work ethic can lead the Rams to defend their title as “Moore League Champions” once again. With specific statistics on how the Rams have been performing help the reader understand how Millikan has been overcoming the hard games such as their tie to Huntington Beach and a loss against Wilson but with faith the Rams will overcome it.
Keffer makes this article easy to understand for those who aren’t familiar with the sport or the program here at Millikan but she or photographer, Lorelei Brennan, made a mistake on spelling for the first photo’s caption. They spelled freshman Jayla Cortes’ name with a “z” at the end rather than an “s”.