Flintridge Prep’s King crowned with high honor
As a defense-oriented team, the Flintridge Prep girls’ soccer program yielded 11 goals in 22 matches this season.
While establishing a stingy defensive presence, which saw the Rebels record 16 shutouts, Flintridge Prep needed a bona fide goal-scoring threat to take some of the pressure off the defensive unit.
Kaelin King gladly accepted that role and regularly answered the bell.
“We knew going into the season that our defense would be one of out strongest points and a lot of games would be close, but we needed to find a way to score some goals, too,” said King, who finished with a team-high 20 goals en route to being named the Prep League’s Offensive Most Valuable Player. “Every team needs someone to raise the spirits even more.
“I just went out there and tried to play with consistency and help my team win anyway I could. Coming into the season, I thought how I would love to get this award. It was one of my goals coming in.”
King, a senior forward, added nine assists to finish with a team-best 49 points and also earn a spot on the league’s first team. King helped the Rebels go 13-3-6, 5-2-3 in league for second place. Flintridge Prep advanced to the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs under the direction of coach Esteban Chavez.
Not to Chavez’ surprise, King supplied the Rebels with many clutch goals.
“It’s so important to have that big goal scorer on the team,” Chavez said. “Kaelin provided a lot of big goals, but also got everybody else involved.
“She gave us a lot. She could distribute. We were strong defensively, but were limited offensively. Kaelin made up for it with her goal-scoring abilities.”
King was one of eight Flintridge Prep players to secure all-league honors. In addition to King, Kaitlin Kelleher, Whitney Cohen and Abby Letts were selected to the first team. Casey Cousineau, Sam Davies, Chelsea Johnson and Katherine Pinney were named to the second team.
Kelleher, a senior midfielder, contributed two goals and three assists for seven points.
Cohen, a senior, provided some offensive pop while also serving as a catalyst on defense. Cohen had three goals and seven assists for 13 points.
Letts, a senior, also proved to be a pillar of defense. She finished with six assists and helped the Rebels go 11-0-5 in matches in which they didn’t allow a goal.
“Kaitlin was our playmaker and heart of the team,” Chavez said. “She’s like a machine and somebody you can always count on by winning a lot of balls for us.
“Whitney got better all the time defensively and she helped us with our counter-attacks. With Abby, you could put her in different places and she could get the job done. She has the ability to read the game well.”
Pinney, a freshman forward, helped shoulder some of the offensive load. Pinney finished with 10 goals and seven assists for 27 points.
Davies, a senior forward, registered one goal and two assists. Johnson, a junior defender, had one assist and was a big part of the Rebels back line in front of Cousineau.
The Dartmouth-bound Cousineau, a senior goalkeeper, recorded 13 shutouts and made 43 saves.
