Girls’ Soccer Dream Team: Kat-like reflexes help CdM
Corona del Mar High senior Katherine Hess did not exactly have the typical high school athletic experience.
Hess shared time in goal for the CdM girls’ soccer team as a freshman, missing games that January to play with the U.S. Under-17 national team. She transferred to JSerra as a sophomore to allow her to more easily compete for Team USA. She came back to CdM as a junior, but was ruled ineligible to play by the CIF Southern Section, so instead she played basketball.
This season, her senior season, was her first full one between the pipes for the Sea Kings. Hess added another wrinkle, as she again played on the basketball team.
Hess is headed to Harvard University for soccer, but she also plans to walk on for basketball. Don’t try to put her in a box.
The only thing harder than that would be scoring on her.
Hess made 99 saves for the Sea Kings (11-8-7) as a senior, and the co-captain helped them accomplish big things after it appeared midway through Pacific Coast League play like they might not make the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs. CdM sat in fourth place in league.
Instead, Hess helped them finish a strong second in league to CIF finalist Northwood. The Sea Kings advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs, where they lost at eventual champion Palos Verdes, 1-0, in the quarterfinals.
For her leadership on and off the field, Hess is the 2015-16 Daily Pilot Newport-Mesa Dream Team Player of the Year.
“The first half of our season, everybody kind of doubted what we were capable of, that we could even qualify for CIF,” Hess said. “That was the danger, that we thought we wouldn’t even make it to the first round. When we did, we wanted to go as far as we could. We proved everyone wrong, which was great for us, starting from a rocky start and basically just showing what we had. It was really fun.”
Hess was a first-team All-Pacific Coast League and an All-CIF Division 2 selection. She and junior center back Hailey Neumann anchored a CdM defense that produced 12 shutouts in 26 games. Even the CIF quarterfinals loss to Palos Verdes, as tough as it was to take, ended up pointing toward CdM’s strong defense. CdM was the only team to hold Palos Verdes, which went on to be a CIF Southern California Regional Division II finalist, to fewer than three goals in its Division 2 title run.
“Part of the success this year of the team was having that leadership on and off the field, and Kat was a big part of that,” CdM Coach Bryan Middleton said. “She’s a difference-maker in the game. It’s an overall team effort, but having her in goal gives you the ability to get through some of those big-time games.”
One of those occurred in the second round of the Division 2 playoffs, a 1-0 upset win at No. 4-seeded Westlake that Hess called her favorite game of the year. She made a season-high 10 saves, consistently denying Westlake until Neumann’s second-half goal off a corner kick lifted the Sea Kings.
“We pushed them to the very end,” Hess said. “I don’t think that either team let up. Westlake was coming into the game thinking that we were going to be not as good as we were, but I think we just had a lot of heart. We pushed through, and that was our best game of the season, I think.”
To Middleton, that was a game that showed the true potential of his star goalie.
“She showed her abilities that night, why she’s a [NCAA] Division 1 goalkeeper, why she’s a top goalkeeper in the Southern Section or the United States in high school,” he said. “In that game, she showed that.”
In becoming that NCAA-bound goalie who will play for the Crimson, Hess joins a strong recent lineage at CdM. Sea Kings keepers like Lindsey Luke (Utah), Sarah Cox (Stanford) and Kendall Mulvaney (Denver) have also made their mark at the next level. It was Mulvaney with whom Hess shared time as a freshman at CdM.
Now Hess is a senior, about to graduate. She certainly had a remarkable winter season after helping the CdM girls’ basketball team advance to the CIF semifinals for the third straight year and the CIF SoCal Regional Division 4 quarterfinals. She was a Dream Team member in that sport, too.
Don’t doubt that she can play both sports in college. At least in college, as she pointed out, they are in different seasons.
As for high school soccer, Hess said it felt great to shine as a senior.
“It’s interesting, because over the course of four years, the only chance I really had to play high school soccer was this year and about half of my freshman year,” she said. “It was really nice to finish off a season as a senior, to do that and play basketball at the same time. It was so much fun and crazy. I can’t tell you how many times people say, ‘How do you do two sports?’ And I just say, ‘I don’t know, you just do it.’ This high school career has been bumpy and it’s been crazy, but it was incredible the way it ended. I know we didn’t get [a] CIF [title] for either sport, but we got pretty close.”
Here’s the other 13 members of this year’s Newport-Mesa Dream Team:
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Brandi White
Estancia
The Orange Coast League Co-MVP, White was vital to the Eagles defense as a senior co-captain and center back. She helped Estancia (14-6-4, 7-1-2 in league) earn seven shutouts in league and win its third league title in her four years on varsity, outright this year. The Eagles advanced to the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs before losing to Oxnard Pacifica in penalty kicks. White played forward in club soccer but anchored the back line for Estancia after missing time in the preseason due to injury. Her toughness helped lead the team as a co-captain, even as she also played water polo this winter. White, who’s also a standout swimmer, will continue her soccer career at Santiago Canyon College.
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Lexi Magliarditi
Sage Hill
Magliarditi played just two seasons for the Lightning, after moving from Las Vegas to Newport Beach. But the Duke-bound senior forward certainly made her mark after scoring a team-best and Newport-Mesa best 23 goals as a senior, which ranked seventh in Orange County. She also was second on Sage with 10 assists. Magliarditi had a program-record 55 goals in her two-year career with Sage Hill. This season, she helped the Lightning (12-5-4, 8-1-1 in league) finish second in the Academy League and advance to the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs, where they fell at home to Valley View, 3-2, in the first round. Magliarditi was a first-team all-league and All-CIF Division 4 honoree, and this is her second straight Dream Team.
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Sianna Siemonsma
Newport Harbor
The junior forward was a leader for the Sailors during a difficult season, which saw their Coach Larry Draluck resign in the middle of league. Siemonsma, a University of Washington commit, led Newport Harbor with 14 goals, including four in league play. She scored as Newport Harbor tied Corona del Mar, 1-1, in the Battle of the Bay game. Siemonsma has scored in all three of her Battle of the Bay games in her career and has a 1-0-2 record against her crosstown rivals. Though the Sailors finished the season 4-13-7, and 2-8 in the Sunset League for last place, Siemonsma was a first-team all-league selection.
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Sierra Dixon
Costa Mesa
The only sophomore on the Dream Team, Dixon was a leader on defense for the Mustangs. She had a lot of speed at the outside back position and also liked to go on the attack for Costa Mesa (3-16-2, 1-7-2 in league). Though they failed to qualify for CIF, the Mustangs played better in the second half of league. They beat Saddleback in their final game, and players like Dixon provide hope for the future. She was a first-team All-Orange Coast League selection.
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Hailey Neumann
Corona del Mar
Neumann, a junior center back, was valuable on defense but also on offense for the Sea Kings. A physical ball-winner in the back, she also led CdM with seven goals scored on set pieces, either on free kicks outside the box or finishing off corner kicks. Her second-half goal helped the Sea Kings upset Westlake, 1-0, on the road in the second round of CIF. Neumann was a first-team All-Pacific Coast League honoree, an All-CIF Southern Section Division 2 pick and also is a repeat Dream Team selection. She has committed to the University of Michigan.
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Emily Rodriguez
Estancia
Rodriguez, a senior forward and co-captain, led the Eagles with 10 goals scored this season. She also tied for the team lead with four assists. Despite standing under 5-foot-3, Rodriguez was deadly in the open field with her speed, as Coach Josh Juarez called her “a bolt of lightning on the field.” She also proved tough as she kept playing despite battling various minor injuries. She scored twice as Estancia beat Rowland, 3-1, in the first round of CIF. Rodriguez, a four-year varsity player, was a first-team All-Orange Coast League selection and will join her longtime friend White in playing for Santiago Canyon.
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Claire Novotny
Sage Hill
Novotny, a senior midfielder, earned a reputation of being clutch during her career with the Lightning after scoring several memorable game-winning goals. After earning Academy League MVP honors as a junior, she came back her senior season to record 15 goals, which was third on the team, as well as a team-best 14 assists. Novotny was a first-team All-Academy League selection and is a repeat Dream Team honoree. She will continue her soccer career at Grand Canyon University.
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Leah Givant
Corona del Mar
Givant, a junior, made things happen in the midfield for CdM. Middleton called her a midfield general similar to Shelby Brown, the 2013-14 Newport-Mesa Player of the Year who is now at SMU. Givant had two goals and was very dangerous going forward with the ball for CdM, finishing with a team-best eight assists. Since the Sea Kings didn’t have a big-time goal-scorer up top, Givant was even more valuable with her corner kicks as well, as the Sea Kings scored many of their goals on set pieces. She was a first-team All-Pacific Coast League selection.
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Katarina Freiberger
Estancia
The Eagles’ third and final co-captain, Freiberger did a bit of everything for them and was a passionate and fiery leader on the pitch. The junior started the year at center back but moved up, often playing center midfielder and proving valuable in Estancia’s attack. She was third on Estancia with six goals scored, adding three assists on the season. Despite an offseason that featured the hiring of a new coach and two talented incoming seniors leaving the team, Freiberger made sure to help the team stay together. She typically was played by the opponent’s best defender, which opened things up for her teammates. Freiberger also was a first-team all-league selection.
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Rachael Jaffe
Sage Hill
Jaffe’s toughness and physicality benefited the Lightning. She started off the season as a senior back and got moved to forward in the middle of league play. She made the most of the opportunity, scoring 16 goals, which ranked second on Sage Hill, even as she moved away from club soccer. Jaffe was a two-sport Dream Team honoree for the Lightning as she also earned the honor as a goalie in boys’ water polo, since Sage doesn’t have a girls’ program in the sport. Water polo is the sport that Jaffe now wants to play in college, but her versatility for the soccer team was big.
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Ally Doherty
Corona del Mar
Doherty, a senior co-captain, typically played defense during her time at CdM. This season, though, she got the chance to play more in the midfield and up top for CdM. She played basically wherever the team needed her to go, showing her leadership qualities. Doherty, a second-team All-Pacific Coast League selection, finished the year with two goals and two assists, and her tough and feisty nature also benefited the Sea Kings.
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Delani Guyot
Estancia
The Eagles don’t go back-to-back as league champions without Guyot, who led them in scoring in league play with six goals. Overall, the junior finished second on the team with eight goals, despite typically playing at defensive midfielder. She was very dangerous on set pieces, where her aggressive nature paid dividends, and she had good vision to help the Eagles transition from defense to offense. Guyot put in much work this winter, as she was also a key member of the girls’ basketball team and helped Coach Judd Fryslie’s squad win another league title as well. A three-year starter in the midfield for the soccer team, she was a first-team all-league selection.
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Tiffany Taylor
Sage Hill
Taylor served the Lightning well as a senior center back, as the talented and experienced defender served as an anchor for Sage’s back line. Coach Mike Hammond said Taylor was even more physical and quicker than before, and her consistent ball-winning ability helped the Lightning, especially as they were relatively inexperienced at goalie following the graduation of Kekai Whitford. Taylor was a first-team All-Academy League selection and also is a repeat Dream Team honoree.
