Hall 'king' of the goals

Faith Christian High's Katie Hall didn't expect much when the Lions kicked off their 2008 campaign with a 2-1 win over Delhi on March 1.

Hall netted one goal that afternoon, but little did she know it was the beginning of a record-setting season in which the senior would collect 43 goals and 22 assists in just 21 games while leading the Lions to a berth in the Sac-Joaquin Section Div. VI playoffs.

"I've been coaching boys and girls for about 15 years now, and she is without question the best girl I've coached," Lions' coach Pierre Preaseau said. "She sees the whole game, has great technical skills and a great ability to finish."

For her spectacular play on the pitch, Hall was named the 2007-08 Appeal-Democrat girls soccer Player of the Year.

"I had the best coaches ever," Hall said of Preaseau and Robert Ripley. "Our coaches really emphasized character and helped us deepen our relationship with God before concentrating on soccer."

Although Hall's goal total was second in the state and broke her own school record of 21, the two-time Sacramento Metropolitan Athletic League most valuable player knew she didn't do it all by herself.

"We had a great group of girls on our team," Hall said. "The team worked really well together because they were humble. We didn't have any ball hogs. Everybody passed the ball and gave 100 percent and that's why we were successful."

One of those unselfish players was her sister, Sarah, who added 29 goals and 26 assists, the majority of which went to Katie.

"Sarah and I played competitive soccer together and learned how to feed each other the ball and feed off each other," said Hall, who recorded three goals and three assists in the first half of a 6-2 victory over River Valley on March 25. "She played a huge part in almost all my goals and if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have had as many goals as I did.

"She made it a lot of fun, too," Hall added. "We got upset and yelled at each other more than anybody on the team, but that's because we're sisters."

Already a prolific scorer, what sets Hall apart in her coaches' eyes is the amount of work she put in to better her game.

"I've never had a player improve as much year-to-year as Katie," said Preaseau, noting that Hall found the back of the net 43 times while attempting just 78 shots on goal. "She worked on it on her own time during the offseason and not a lot of kids do that."

According to Hall, much of her improvement came from working with her competitive coach, Abel Franco, who helped polish her game on the offensive end.

"He had a lot to with my ball skills," said Hall, who next year will play at Masters College, a Christian school near Los Angeles. "And he was really good at putting players exactly where they needed to be to help out the entire team."

Hall's stellar play was also noticed by her opponents.

The 16-5 Lions finished second in the SMAL, but Hall's play impressed the league's coaches enough to vote her the unanimous league MVP over two players from Bradshaw Christian who received full-ride scholarships to Sacramento State.

"And the thing is, Katie is as good of a person as she is a player," Preaseau said. "She's just incredible."

Earning coach of the year honors was Sutter High's Jason Spain, who guided a deep and talented Huskies team to a 21-1-1 record and their fourth-straight Northern Section title.

"We had two big injuries during the year, but we had depth," Spain said. "I could pick any 10 of my 15 girls and we would whip any team locally."

The Sutter coach has reason to be confident as the Huskies finished the season ranked 13th in the western United States for schools of all sizes.

Two players Spain cited as being key to the team's success were midfielder Lexi Kidd and defender Taylor Franco.

"The best pure soccer player in the area is Lexi Kidd and the most dominant player is Taylor Franco," Spain said, adding that Franco is the most clutch player in school history. "She came up big in all those big games."

The 2008 season also saw Spain reach a milestone when he became just the 50th coach to amass 300 wins following a 9-0 Butte View League victory over Las Plumas on Jan. 22.

"Obviously, I've had a lot of good players," Spain said, rattling off names of several former pupils dating back to his days coaching at Cottonwood and Manteca 12 year ago.

For now, Spain will concentrate on getting the Yuba College women's team ready for the upcoming season before teeing in up this winter when the Huskies try to make it five-straight Section titles.

"It's nice to win four straight," said Spain, whose career coaching record stands at 303-57-44. "I love all my girls. They worked hard from day one during the summer all the way through the season."

Named to the Appeal-Democrat's All-Area team were:

DEFENDERS

• Taylor Franco, junior, Sutter: Scored game-winning goals in each of the last two championship games for the Huskies and made two saves in goal in Sutter's shoot-out win over Lassen in this year's championship. The All-BVL performer also added eight goals and five assists.

• Kiley Herrick, senior, Colusa: The Redskins' defensive MVP was the backbone of a Colusa defense that allowed just 12 goals in 18 games.

• Stephanie Sluder, senior, Faith Christian: The three-time all-SMAL performer was the anchor of a Lions defense that recorded nine shutouts and allowed just 24 goals in 21 games.

MIDFIELDERS

• Lexi Kidd, senior, Sutter: The BVL most valuable player registered 20 goals and 16 assists while setting the all-time assists record for Sutter.

• Rachel Shore, sophomore, Live Oak: The two time all-Sacramento Valley League selection averaged more than a goal per game and finished with 17 goals, 13 assists and two hat tricks on the year.

• Hailey Taylor, senior, Sutter: Led the Huskies in slide tackles and broke Kidd's single season assist record with 22. The All-BVL performer also added 7 goals.

• Tracey Yang, senior, Lindhurst: Selected to the all -Golden Empire League team, Yang was the Blazers' primary ball-handler at midfield.

FORWARDS

• Lunden Desmond, senior, Marysville: The all-GEL selection led the Indians with 22 goals and 5 assists.

• Sarah Hall, freshman, Faith Christian: The first team all-SMAL performer complimented her sister by adding 29 goals and 26 assists for the Lions.

• Jaymi Hill, sophomore, Sutter: The all-BVL selection scored 35 goals to break Sutter's single-season record and added 11 assists to boot.

GOALKEEPER

• Mimi Juarez, sophomore, Colusa: The Sacramento Valley League North MVP recorded 163 saves and seven shutouts and also came out of net to register 12 goals and two assists.

For a complete list of the All-Area team , including honorable mention players, see Page B2.