girls soccer news

The oldest high school in the North Bay is celebrating its 100th anniversary this school year, but other than a Division IV boys state basketball championship in 2000, Tamalpais-Mill Valley High has not had many top Bay Area teams in any sport in several decades.

That all changed when a group of young women, part of southern Marin's flourishing youth soccer programs, put Tam in a position to win its first North Coast Section championship in girls soccer.

The Red Tailed Hawks (19-1-2) face University (18-1-6) at 1 p.m. today at Marin Catholic in Kentfield in the NCS championship game. The teams tied 1-1 earlier this season.

Junior strikers Alicia Blose (13 goals) and Julia Raney (12 goals) each scored in a 2-0 semifinal victory over Branson-Ross on Thursday.

Junior goalkeeper Gabby Guaiumi has been unbeatable most of the season. In the Branson victory, Guaiumi made six saves, three of them against strong scoring chances she took away with cat-like moves.

"Alicia and Julia have provided a tremendous amount of team leadership all season," said first-year coach Dustin Nygaard, who coached the junior varsity team last season "And Gabby, she's a huge part of why we're in the championship game. She came up big again and took away any chance Branson had of scoring."

All three appear to be legitimate college prospects.

Raney is looking at eastern liberal-arts schools such as Middlebury and Amherst, while Guaiumi has some interest from Wisconsin-Milwaukee, UC Davis, USF and Nevada.

Blose, an all-MCAL first-team last season, has received interest from a number of Division I programs. Her performance at camps this summer will determine a lot about her future.

Another factor that has propelled the Red Tailed Hawks to their current position, No. 33 national and No. 4 California spots in the studentsportssoccer.com rankings is their depth.

Freshman forward Storie Ledger is a rising star and the player Nygaard feels may be the best prospect in the program. She has six goals and nine assists.

"When you see her play, there's no way you can believe she's just a freshman. She's a phenomenal player," Nygaard said.

Three other freshmen Nygaard says are making major contributions are starting left back Phoebe Miller, Kaleah Rothlind and Essie Winer.

"We know we have the players to win NCS and that was the goal from the beginning of the season," Raney said. "Now that we have the opportunity, these girls don't want to let it slip away."

With such a young team, Tamalpais may have the beginnings of a soccer dynasty on the Mill Valley campus. A crowd of more than 200 Tam fans attended the Branson game. First, though, is a date for the section crown with formidable University, which Tam beat 3-2 in extra time last season in the first round of the playoffs. The Red Devils beat Marin Catholic 2-0 Thursday night behind two goals from Nina Watkins.

"The job is not done yet," Nygaard said. "The girls won't be satisfied unless we win this game."