Prep girls’ soccer: Whitney upsets top seed Granite Bay to win section final

The day for the Whitney High School girls’ soccer team started at a familiar spot.

That would be Waffle Farm, a breakfast spot in Lincoln that holds significant meaning. Before senior night every year, the team skips first-period class at school and heads to this spot.

The girls visited Waffle Farm the morning of their Sac-Joaquin Section Division ll championship game against top-seeded Granite Bay and hoped for good luck. Some 13 hours later under the bright lights at Cosumnes River College on Tuesday night, the fourth-seeded Wildcats celebrated a section championship after an emotional 5-4 penalty shootout win.

Whitney got what it wanted — section championship hats — a goal head coach Ana Jones set.

“We have worked on penalty kicks for the last three weeks,” Jones said. “Why? Because we wanted those hats. We wanted to work really hard for those hats.”

She added, “(This win) means so much to me and the players. We were the underdogs in the second half of the league. For many years, we were a strong team but it was hard for us to put it together. (In order to build a program) you have to learn how to win and how to lose. When you lose, you are okay with what you built.”

The senior leaders for Whitney delivered. Natalie Eppler, Courtney Wagner, Angela Shannon and Aubrey Murray drilled their penalty kicks. Shannon, Murray and Eppler are the three Whitney captains.

Goalie Reese Clarke is another senior leader on the team. She was a freshman who started in goal for Whitney’s last section championship game in 2019.

“Our coach is really strong on team chemistry,” Clarke said. “We always pick a few seniors to lead the team. We are such good friends off the field. We have team dinners and we always try and do bonding activities. We started the tradition my freshman year and we do it during senior nights. We went again this morning because it was a big game.”

After Clarke saved a shot, sophomore Lauren Hunter stepped up to the penalty line and delivered the dagger. Hunter has history with Granite Bay goalie Alyssa Savig. A few years ago, Hunter missed a penalty kick playing against Savig in club soccer.

She was determined to get a different result.

“I was so nervous and I was stressed out of my mind,” Hunter said. “Last time I faced Alyssa (Savig) in a penalty kick, I missed it. So this time, I went to the opposite corner.”

Hunter added, “We have great senior leadership. We look up to them and they’re like our moms. It’s amazing to have that. We have had a really good bonding experience with the seniors.”

Whitney has built a culture on campus revolving around supporting other teams at the school. It’s paid off. Most of the Whitney boys’ soccer team and baseball team were in attendance to watch the section final.

Clarke said when the Whitney boys’ soccer team plays at Heart Health Park against Modesto in the Division l section championship, the girls’ team will be there.

“It’s so awesome having them out here,” Clarke said. “We are going to be there for them (when they play). The baseball team was also here tonight. It’s fun having that. I love my school. (Our other teams on campus) are always trying to hype each other up. Our new athletic director Nick (French) talked to us before the school year started about going out and supporting other teams. The goal is to get each other hyped up to get more fans and create more of a bond.”

Despite going 3-5-2 in league play, Whitney found a way to turn around its season. Whitney’s last loss was Jan. 27.

Whitney (16-6-2) will await its seeding for the CIF Regional Soccer championships that start next Tuesday.

“We dealt with a ton of injuries and we still are,” Clarke said. “Playing in NorCals is so exciting. My freshman year, we went from winning sections to being out in the first round of NorCals. We want to step up and keep going this year.”

Granite Bay (10-4-1) will also advance to the regional tournament. All teams that play in a section championship game across the state automatically qualify.

This story was originally published February 23, 2022 at 2:25 AM.