TOHS girls’ soccer team focused on returning to the top of league standings
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

A year after finishing fourth in the Marmonte League with an 82-4 record, many players on the Thousand Oaks girls’ soccer team have returned this season looking to make a bigger impact in the league’s standings.

Second-year head coach Geoff Raives will bring back eight returning players to the Lancers, four of whom are seniors.

“This is only my second year here, but I think this is the strongest team we’ve had for a while,” Raives said. “We have a very good group of girls. The chemistry on this team has been great so far, and if we keep up our solid work ethic, then we should be fine this year.”

Early in preseason, the Lancers have looked good by winning three games. They beat Hart 3-1, Buena 2-0 and Flintridge Sacred Heart 4-0. Raives is hoping this is the start of the Lancers’ return to glory. The team won the Marmonte League title two years ago.

“So far I’ve liked what I’ve seen as far as the style of play,” Raives said. “The team is really working hard and has a great work ethic. I think there is still room for improvement; we can still be a little more physical. Sometimes when there is a lot of pressure or things don’t go our way, we tend to panic. That needs to improve.”

The team will bring back junior goalkeeper Laura Brain, who was second-team all-CIF last season. Brain has been on the team since her freshman year and said that even though every team she has played on has had great chemistry, this one is communicating on the field better than any of the others.

“We have a good group of hardworking girls on this team,” Brain said. “As individuals, we are all good, but when we are all working together as a team, we are really dangerous. Everyone on this team has a lot of heart.”

Although Raives has only been Brain’s coach for one year, the junior says that she now has a world of confidence because of her coach.

“I’ve learned a lot from Geoff,” Brain said. “He has helped me through a lot, more than I could have imagined. He has given me a lot of confidence by getting me to believe I could do things on the field I’d thought I’d never be able to do or get better at. He knows what he’s doing out there.”

Other key returnees include junior Nicole Cruz, senior Katie Coulas and sophomore Megan Meyer.

“Megan has been playing great,” Raives said. “She does a great job of keeping possession, and if you are playing against her, you better keep an eye on her or else she will score a goal.”

Meyer said TOHS has to do a better job of playing well consistently this season in order to get back on top in the Marmonte League standings.

“I think we have to play well in every game,” Meyer said. “Sometimes we would be playing a team we were supposed to beat and we would have lapses where we wouldn’t play as good as we could have been.”

Brain echoed Meyer’s statements.

“We can’t be looking down the road at Moorpark and Westlake,” Brain said. “We have to focus and think of playing hard in the game in front of us.”

There are several newcomers that have made an immediate impact for Thousand Oaks, players like sophomore Taylor DeMirjian, and freshmen Michelle Cruz and Alyson Birgel.

Michelle Cruz has already scored three goals in three preseason games.

“Michelle is really dangerous,” Raives said. “Every time she gets the ball, she has the potential to score.

“Taylor is an outside-mid player for us that is very good at getting behind the ball. She has been playing great early on,” the coach said.

Raives said the Marmonte League has become very tough, adding that a return for glory for TOHS won’t come easy.

“I’m looking for the same schools that were good last year—Moorpark, Westlake, Royal and defending champion Agoura—to be good this year. And Simi Valley and Calabasas have improved as well, so this has become one of the hardest leagues in the state. Every game this year is going to be very important.”