By Aidan Shelton
Cal Poly Humboldt Women’s Soccer team got a boost of encouragement after ranking sixth in the conference preseason poll. They’ve put up a steady performance over the past three years, consistently qualifying for the CCAA tournament, tying Cal State Monterey Bay for fifth place last season.
Cal Poly Pomona led the list with nine first place votes, followed by Cal State East Bay, Cal State LA, Stanislaus State and San Marcos, the latter of which edged out Humboldt by just one vote. Along with the preseason poll, two Humboldt forwards made the CCAA preseason watchlist — Heidie Munoz and Frida Duran Arellano. Munoz had a breakout freshman season last fall, winning CCAA Freshman of the Year.
“Honestly, I was pretty shocked,” Munoz said. “Obviously, like my hard work off the field and on the field was being recognized and was paying off, so I was pretty excited and happy about it.”
Senior Duran Arellano was equally surprised. While she had a stand out performance that got her an All-Conference recognition last fall, she was kneed in the back during a game in November and has been recovering from the injury since. Despite the hardships of dealing with such a serious injury — getting X-Rays, MRIs and going to physical therapy — Duran Arellano has been committed to having a healthy mindset about the situation. The hardest part is not having a timeline of when she can get back to playing.
“It’s been a journey,” Duran Arellano said. “It’s just been hard, but I’m positive — I’m keeping my faith up that I’m gonna be better and I’m gonna be strong enough to get back on the field as soon as my body allows me to.”
Both Munoz and Duran Arellano expressed the importance of team culture in soccer where team chemistry is crucial. They value putting others first and fostering a team culture of selflessness as the key to success.
“The wins we win as a team and the losses, it’s nobody’s fault,” Munoz said. “We lose, we lose as a team. There’s one mistake, it’s everyone’s mistake. Like, we don’t blame one person, we all take accountability because we are a team. That’s how it should be.”
Women’s Soccer started the year strong with three exhibition wins and closed this week out with a 0-1 loss against Dominican University and a 0-0 draw against Hawaii Pacific. Despite the scoreless game, the Jacks dominated possession and were able to get off 27 shots throughout the game, ten of which were on target for goal. They were able to keep the ball on Hawaii’s half for much of the game and limited them to four shots.
Aidan Shelton is a journalism major with a minor in environmental ethics and the sports editor of The Lumberjack. A writer, sprinter and Arcata local, he understands what gives Humboldt its identity and wants to see it flourish. He hopes to encapsulate the uniqueness and diversity of Humboldt sports in his work. In his free time he enjoys being outdoors, going to the gym and travelling. For any sports inquiries, contact azs10@humboldt.edu.
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