After 0-9 record last season, San Mateo girls’ soccer off to a fast 4-0-1 start

With a 2-0 victory in a non-league home match Monday against Half Moon Bay, the Bearcats (4-0-1) have now recorded three straight shutouts. The scary part is Mayora’s squad stands to get better, as two players — sophomore Chisa Matsuoto and senior Mani Helu — returned for the club showcase circuit to make their varsity debuts Monday.

“It kind of clicked pretty easily,” San Mateo senior Anika Chand said, “which I think is pretty cool because previous years didn’t really happen that easily.”

Anika and Karina Chand are the Bearcats’ most experienced seniors. The twin sisters have been with the varsity team since their freshman season. And in that time, they have taken some hard knocks — a 6-12-1 record in 2018-19; followed by a 2-10 record in 2019-20; before sitting out last season when the entire San Mateo girls’ soccer program fielded just 14 players.

“I would say (last year) we were a middle-of-the-pack JV team,” Mayora said. “But we had to play varsity. We had to represent the school.”

Along with the return of the Chand sisters this season, San Mateo saw 70 players show up for girls’ soccer tryouts. The varsity team is back at full capacity with 23 players, while there are 26 players on the junior-varsity team.

“I didn’t know what to expect this year,” Mayora said. “But I’m glad they showed up.”

Monday’s win was the Chand sisters’ time to shine. Karina Chand stepped up in the third minute with her first goal of the season.

“I think I was just kind of looking for front-post runs,” Karina Chand said. “So, I kind of put it in. It was kind of curving more than I wanted, and there was someone near the front post, or just a mess of bodies in there … I think everybody was just kind of going toward the ball and it just kind of went in.”

Then in the 17th minute, Anika Chand sent in a corner kick that rattled around before bounding in off a Half Moon Bay player for an own goal.

“I just saw … a channel for me to kick it in,” Anika Chand said. “So, I just saw an empty space and that’s where I aimed for it. I knew it was slippery and wet, so I just knew whatever happened, it probably would have gone in because it’s just crazy in there.”

Helu enjoyed a stellar showing at center midfielder, keeping San Mateo on the attack throughout the second half. And the Bearcats were sharp off the flanks with sophomore Ren Delos Reyes and senior Gwyn Chio playing fast and physical off the outsides to push the action.

“I like to coach a short possession game; play as a team and attack from the back,” Mayora said. “There’s girls from like six different club teams. So, we’ve got to try and gel into an all-school team, and that’s what’s going on.”

Half Moon Bay (3-3) was without two starting midfielders Monday and, as a result, was unable to set in motion the potent attack of sophomore striker Deja Spikes. With four-goal and three-goal games already to her credit this season, Spikes — who plays as a defender for her club team — has totaled 11 goals in six matches.

“So, she’s been playing really, really well,” HMB head coach Sonny Day said. “It’s not her natural position, but for us she’s learning and turning it on with some really nice goals.”

HMB has been forced to thrust sophomore Kamryn Lamprecht into action as a center fullback the past two games. Lamprecht helped settle the defense after the two early, scrambling goals by San Mateo.

“Some of our attacking players were out today, so we knew that we were going to be kind of bunkered in a little bit today,” Day said. “The second half I thought they played very well defensively. Of course, there weren’t took many good takes on the attack side.”

San Mateo’s wonder twin powers were simply too strong to deny.

The Chand sisters certainly have an advantage, having played together for eight straight years, including seven seasons with the Peninsula United club team out of Foster City.

“I feel like we kind of have a radar where the other one is,” Karina Chand said. “So, we kind of know where the other one is, we don’t have to look up.”