LJ g soccer: What a difference a year makes

Photo by Ed Piper

By Ed Piper

"Strengths? We're getting more connected as a team, which is good," La Jolla girls coach Austin Mobley said before league play started. "We have a good amount of ability. We just need to put it all together.

"There have been really good moments. It just hasn't been consistent enough."

The conversation turned to last year's team, which the present squad is performing far superior to--1-0 in City League at this writing (Jan. 20), 6-4 overall.

"You guys were missing some people last year," suggested an interviewer.

Mobley: "We had some injuries. We were in a league in which opponents were just better than us." (Division 1)

Speaking carefully, he said, "It was not as successful as we would have liked it to be." (1-15 on the season) "But I think it is going to help us this year, because we dealt with all that adversity last year."

What are you going to work on in the next month? "We've gotta get sharper attacking and defending set pieces. That cannot be a weakness."

"We're going to go home if we give up goals in set pieces," Mobley explained, "if that's the difference in us winning a playoff game or losing a playoff game."