After winning the league and an overall stellar 2023-24 girls’ soccer season, the Bulldogs finished with an almost perfect league record of 13 wins- 0 losses- 1 tie and an overall record of 16-4-1.
“A highlight of the season for me was seeing the girls come together and consistently work towards accomplishing their goal of being league champs and succeeding,” head coach AJ Tewes said.
This season the Bulldogs scored a total of 62 goals, 14 of which were scored by junior Kayalily Penn , the most on the team. Senior goalkeeper Delaney Timmons had 130 saves with three shutout games. Emma Gray, the Bulldogs backup goalie had 15 saves and one shutout game.
With their preseason record being rough, the bulldogs were looking to pick things up for the season.
As league began, Buena picked up speed, scoring an average of two goals each game and only losing three games in the first half of the season. In the second half, the girls continued to excel, scoring an average of four goals a game and only losing by one.
Setting themselves up well for CIF playoffs, Buena won their first-round game 7-1, knocking Long Beach Wilson out. For their second round of CIF play, they faced La Habra, and lost, 3-2.
High points of the Bulldogs’ season included beating their crosstown rivals, the Ventura cougars, both times they faced. Buena won the first game 4-2 and the second game, 6-1.
“Beating Ventura was so fun, we celebrated it so well and it was such a fun experience,” freshman Olivia Barajas said.
With such a successful season the girls were able to create a tight bond, heightening the experience of each player.
“All the girls were so nice and welcoming…it was fun off the field too. We [all] got really close,” Barajas said.
Overall the season was successful as the team went undefeated in league and had minimal losses to teams in the preseason while being ranked the 61st best team in Calif. according to Max Preps’ statistics. But not making it far in the CIF playoffs was heartbreaking for the team.
“Overall I think if everyone can continue to work on their technical and tactical abilities they will be in a good position to be successful again next year,” Tewes said.
