DUBLIN – John Mayer and Taylor Swift names belong to a famous pop star who has spawned successful albums by both artists during their short time together as a celebrity couple.
And shouting those names out on the sidelines of the San Ramon Valley’s 15-1 women’s football team is a lighthearted way to make fun of the players’ musical tastes, as the Wolves won 3-0 in Dublin on Tuesday. It also signaled a change of formation for the
“I’m not a Swift,” said coach Mark Jones, adding that outstanding striker and avid Swift fan Lauren Keeley chose the mention. You just pass the nomenclature to change shape.”
Players quickly joined new formations and maintained their grip on the competition, laughing at the music-themed codewords.
This is just one example of how the San Ramon Valley has become a winning team in the East Bay Athletic League, if not the Bay Area as a whole. A year after the team advanced to his NCS Division I semi-finals, SRV ranked him #1 in the Bay Area News Group rankings.
Junior forward Keely scored the first and third goals with long-range volleys, while forward Sammy Schultz scored another goal. Each score ended with the teams gathering together celebrating.
“Last year’s group was very successful, but this year our chemistry is on a whole other level,” Keely said. “It doesn’t matter who’s on the field because we give them the ball and we know they’ll do well.”
After the Wolves won their first six league games 17-0 on aggregate, Amador Valley stunned the San Ramon Valley 3-1 in Pleasanton.
In the team’s first game since that loss, it was clear that the Wolves had learned some lessons from the result.
Senior centre-back Gianna Rodriguez said: “We were under a lot of pressure for the record, but everyone gave us their best game.” We needed that loss.You can’t start flat and take things for granted because you’re going to play against a really good team.”
After a flurry of Dublin attacks in the first 15 minutes, Keeley broke through with SRV’s first goal. San Ramon His volley prowess was evident, with Jones substituting players over and over again with little to no loss of quality.
The SRV coach said, “It’s a great group because everyone is really on the same page. Everyone understands their role and they’re having a good time.”
After the game, Dublin coach Jered Louie said Wolves looked poised to challenge the likes of Carondelet and Monte Vista for the section crown.
“They have some tall, athletic, explosive players who know how to finish in front of goal,” said Louie.
As hinted by the Dublin coach, the San Ramon Valley still have some strong teams to contend with as they seek to secure top seeds in the section play-offs.
The San Ramon Valley will host Foothills on Thursday and will wrap up the regular season with back-to-back games against Carondeletto and Monte Vista in a few weeks.
The players spoke confidently about their team and their abilities, but admitted that they were still far from winning the section.
Goalkeeper Maddie Gumbs said, “I feel like coming out of a loss and winning 3-0 shows that we can handle adversity. “In the coming weeks, we have to step up. No, but I think you can do what you want.”
