It is a mixed bag of young and old, experienced and newcomers for the girls’ soccer season.
Below is a look at the local teams of Burroughs, Burbank and Providence.
Burroughs
The Bears have a solid returning core of midfielders, some of which will be playing in other positions to make up for where there is not as much experience, where coach Brady Riggs has more players than he has positions for.
Senior captain Julia Narmore could move to the middle of the defense as she is a very reliable player.
Fellow co-captain Nicole Jimenez could also see time either on defense or in the middle of the pitch.
Senior Kelani Roy, who is also a co-captain, appears to be a strong leader in the middle.
Seniors Rylee Wilson, Samantha Espinosa, Eden Butcher, Mackenzie Khoury , Jazleigh Lone and Kiele Torrance figure to see time on defense.
Senior Layla Hoyo is expected to be the goalie.
The midfield also includes senior Natalie Jimenez, sophomores Ella Sage, Vivian Wright and Ruby McGrath. Freshman Samantha Sizemore is already seeing significant playing time in the midfield and is one to watch for the future.
Up front Burroughs has a strong left winger in Quiana Laughlin, who should score lots of goals.
Fellow junior Graciela Gomez is a solid right winger who kicks with her left. Senior Sofia Samuelson, juniors Olive Sanchez, Jailyn Turner and Nadia Aguilar are others to look for up front.
Burbank
The Bulldogs begin a new era under coach Alan Simon, who replaces Pablo Diaz.
Just two players return to the varsity under Simon.
Fortunately, one of them is sophomore Maneh Nersesyan, who has represented Armenia at the Under-17 level.
She will be the center piece that the team is built around.
“She fits well with the rest of the girls,” Simon said. “She is a teenager acting like a professional. She’s a role model for all these kids.”
Junior Kelsey Finnigan and freshman Sydney Evans-Armendariz are competing for the starting goal gloves.
The rest of the team is something Simon is hoping to develop.
There are a number of seniors on the team that Simon says are capable of playing at the community college level.
Those seniors include Valeria Rojas, Jasmine Zamudio, Mia Schoenbrun, Valeria Ardon, Sarah Girod, Katie Johnson, Aneleise Santana, Zara Garcia and Samantha Areaga.
They are supported by juniors Emma Batista, Sophia Peek, Brittney Butchko, Jimena Garcia, Alison Moloy, Maya Tellez and Madison Evans.
There are three sophomores besides Nersesyan, consisting of Nicole Shamiryan, Savannah Brown and Natalia Gonzalez.
Freshman Emily Taghon is a top newcomer.
Providence
The Pioneers are young and should have a bright future under first-year coach Gregory Cohen.
There are no seniors in the squad, which competes in the tough Prep League.
In goal, junior Siena Alarcon and freshman Clover Murphy will compete for the starting gloves.
Defensively the Pioneers have sophomores Luciana Polo, Shelby Velandia and Maya Marroquin. They will be joined by freshmen Finley Murphy, Madison Rodriguez and Maddy Redman-Pinter.
In the midfield, Providence has juniors Marissa Romeo and Natalya Sanchez as well as sophomores Danielle Melikian and Celina Demirjian.
Up front in the attack are juniors Sophia Soria and Gianna Dimaplis. They will be supported by sophomores Natalia Sanchez and Sienna Galdamez as well as freshman Llew Doherty.
