Wounded Warriors finding ways to win

Despite injuries, Westlake girls’ soccer team stays the course



STEPPING UP—Westlake High senior forward Julia Ozello leads the team with 13 goals this season.

STEPPING UP—Westlake High senior forward Julia Ozello leads the team with 13 goals this season.

The Warriors could have folded their tents and gone quietly into the night.

But rather than retreat in the face of adversity, the Westlake High girls’ soccer team opted to stand strong and protect its Marmonte League crown.

Now, with less than a dozen days remaining in the regular season, the Warriors lead the league standings with 26 points.

Royal ( 22) and Calabasas (21) sit in second and third place, respectively.

Teams receive three points for a league victory and one point in the event of a tie.

Westlake has ascended the Marmonte mountain despite playing without two of its top goalscorers from last season, junior forward Arielle Ship and senior forward Taylor Perry.

Ship is currently competing at the U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team training camp in Sunrise, Fla.

Perry suffered a serious knee injury early in the season and will not return for the playoffs, said WHS head coach Frank Marino.

Despite these setbacks— and the loss of starting senior forward Autumn Fox, who’s expected to miss at least another week due to injury—the Warriors have battled their way to a 10-2-4 overall record and a 8-1-2 mark in the Marmonte.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised,” said Marino, who also guides the Cal Lutheran women’s soccer team. “Our players have really stepped up and done a nice job so far.”

Senior forward Julia Ozello, the Warriors’ leading goal-scorer with 13 strikes, is a quiet captain who lets her superior play do most of the talking.

In Ozello’s three previous seasons on the varsity team, Westlake has owned or shared the league title every year. To try to make it four in a row, Ozello had to take her game to the next level.

Without game-changers Ship and Perry on the pitch, Ozello has become Westlake’s go-to girl near the oppositions’ net.

“I love having her up at the top because she’s a great goalscorer,” sophomore midfielder Nicole Molen said of Ozello.

“She’s basically won all of our games for us.”

Ozello has embraced her leadership role and consistently delivers eye-opening results—all while reflecting positive attention toward her teammates.

“Coming in to the season, our mentality was that we could always rely on (Ship),” Ozello said. “But now we know that we can do it on our own. It’s made us more independent. More girls are coming into their own and scoring goals.

“We have our own identity now.”

In addition to Ozello and Fox, sophomores McKenna Masters and Sarah Ishikawa, as well as junior Amanda Apelian are key contributors at forward.

Apelian has eight goals on the season.

The Warriors’ style of play is predicated on consistently moving the ball forward. During specific training drills, Marino instructs his players to refrain from making backward passes.

“We want to go forward quickly and create chances to score,” the coach said. “We want quality possessions at times, but we also want to get forward quickly while being aware of where we can attack and when we can attack.

“We want to make the most out of our chances.”

The young Warrior midfielders shoulder much of the responsibility for maintaining a brisk pace of play.

Sophomores Courtney Appleford and Molen, along with freshman Jamie Park, have all competed like seasoned veterans near the center of the pitch.

Molen said her role in the midfield is to the keep the ball moving and to make sure other players are positioned in the proper spots.

Ozello praised Appleford for her overall commitment to the program.

“I’m really impressed with the way she’s been playing,” Ozello said of Appleford. “She’s really aggressive. She’s strong. She’s willing to play for her team.”

Westlake’s defense is stingier than Ebenezer Scrooge in December. In league matches, there might as well be a force field around the Warriors’ woodwork.

In 11 Marmonte games, Westlake has allowed four goals while recording seven shutouts.

Senior goalkeeper Laura Rivera is a first-year starter at WHS. Rivera sat out last season after transferring from La Reina.

“She’s doing a great job,” Marino said of Rivera. “She’s been solid for us in goal. We have confidence in our keeper. We know there’s someone back there who’s going to do the job.

Senior Bianca Riazi, a fouryear varsity member and team tri-captain along with Ozello and Perry, anchors a stout backline.

The playmaking Riazi is flanked by sophomore defenders Kaitlin Pitcher and Charlotte Bishop, as well as freshmen Kelsey Kimball and Nayeli Baez.

Senior center- back Sarah Duffy is another ace at keeping goals off the scoreboard.

“Riazi is a very strong aspect to our defense,” Duffy said. “But our center- mids, like Nicole Molen, are also really helpful at keeping the ball away from the defense at all times. . . .

“Our goalkeeper is new, but she’s found her voice. She knows we like to be yelled at and told what to do. She calls for the ball now, comes out and is assertive with everything.”

Seniors Erika Perez, Rachel Kennedy and Emily Bredberg; juniors Jordan Kerner and Kaitlin Kimball; and sophomore Kayla Bredberg provide quality depth for the WHS roster.

Michelle Sharts and Robert Strubeck assist Marino on the coaching staff.

Westlake’s next match is Friday at 6 p.m. at Simi Valley High.


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