Burlingame's Sophia Young: Girls' Soccer Player of the Year

“We made a contingency plan. I have a pair of (extra goalie) gloves in my bag. Just go in there and be athletic,” DeRosa said. “[Starting goalkeeper] was one position I absolutely never had to worry about.”

And to think the Panthers were this close to not having Young for her senior year. She said her main objective was to be committed to a college program before the start of the season. If not, she was prepared to just play the club soccer season and the various showcases.

In October, she committed to Lewis & Clark University in Willamette, Oregon. She made a concerted effort to accomplish that.

“I wanted to play with Burlingame,” Young said. “I really wanted to play my senior year.”

It’s a good thing she did because she helped lead the Panthers to a storybook season. Playing nearly every minute of every game the previous three seasons, it was a foregone conclusion Young would be between the posts again this season. With stingy defensive line and Young anchoring the back, the Panthers went on to post an overall record of 14-5-6, with Young recording a goals against average of 0.76, having allowed 19 goals in 25 games. She posted 11 clean sheets and helped guide Burlingame to its third Central Coast Section title, first since 2009, as well as a spot Northern California Division III championship game.

All of which led to her be chosen as the Daily Journal Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year.

“I feel like 11 shutouts is pretty good, just considering how hard it was for us to score,” Young said.

The fact the Panthers managed to score only 40 goals this season (0.6 goals per game) meant there was a lot more pressure on Young, which she handled with aplomb. She allowed two goals or less in 22 of 24 games played (the Panther got a forfeit win over Scotts Valley). She allowed three goals in her two other starts, including in the Nor Cal championship game against Montgomery.

“This kid just has an innate ability to know where the ball is going,” DeRosa said. “And you can’t teach that.”

When opponents did score, other than the frustration of giving one up, Young was philosophical about it.

“Most the goals that do get in are really challenging and no one could have got them,” Young said. “After they score, I think what I could have done differently.”

Added DeRosa: “So many of those goals (allowed), were not goalkeeping mistakes. In terms of making goalkeeping mistakes, I never saw it.”

If anything, Young more than made up for goals allowed by standing tall in penalty kick situations. Three times this season, the Panthers had a game decided by PKs — winning all three. The first came in the preseason Firebird Tournament hosted by Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, when she stopped all three attempts she faced against Sacred Heart Prep.

The stakes were much higher in her final two shootouts — the CCS semifinals against Sacred Heart Cathedral and the finals against Menlo School. In the semis, the Irish managed to get only one past her. Against the Knights, she stopped two shots.

“I just go with what my gut said,” Young said.

But it was a little more sophisticated than that.

“There is a split second before they hit the shot to see if their hips are turned in or out,” Young said. Hips turned in, the shot is going to the shooter’s left. It’s the opposite side if the hips open up.

“She almost had an innate ability to know which side (of the goal) the girl was going to kick on,” DeRosa said. “The ones they made, the few that were made, she was just a hair’s breath from getting it. Just a spectacular effort.”

Young’s tremendous individual efforts this season were a key piece for a team that did not have a lot of internal expectations. With a relatively young team and an offense hindered by the absence of two important pieces, one to injury and a second to a player who decided to sit out the season, the Panthers thought just making the playoffs would be an accomplishment. After a fifth-place finish in the Bay Division standings, the Panthers received an at-large berth into the CCS tournament by half a power point.

From there, Young and the Panther were nearly unbeatable as Young posted four shutouts in six playoff games. She gave up only one goal in regulation as Burlingame went on to claim the CCS Division III crown.

“Going into the season, a lot of us, especially the seniors, we didn’t think we would get in (to CCS),” Young said. “Having a CCS title was just insane. My goal since my freshman year, I wanted my name on a banner (the championship banner that hangs in the school’s gym). I definitely dreamt of having my name on a banner.”