“That said, we don’t take anything for granted because we are not in the position where we are the defending league champions. We played in a lot of summer tournaments in Orange County, Long Beach and San Diego to help make us better.”
Crescenta Valley, which reached the quarterfinals for the second postseason in a row, is ranked No. 4 in the CIF Southern Section Division IV preseason poll.
The Falcons were the lone area team to qualify for the playoffs last season. Glendale, Hoover, Flintridge Prep and Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy all missed out on the postseason and will look to show vast improvement and perhaps reach the playoffs this season.
Crescenta Valley will be led by standout junior utility player Kim Fraisse, who contributed a team-high 78 goals and 20 assists en route to securing All-Area and All-CIF first-team accolades. It will also bring back senior goalkeeper Sophie Munoz, who was named to the All-Area second-team and All-CIF third team last season after collecting 239 saves. They will be joined by senior driver Julia Warden, junior utility player Adrienne Ingalla and junior driver Christine Cho.
“We will have a lot of speed, and it’s the deepest team that I’ve had,” Loporchio said.
Glendale will look to get back into the playoff mix under new Coach Forest Holbrook. Holbrook turned around the fortunes of the school’s boys’ team by leading them to the Division VI semifinals last month.
Holbrook insisted that this year will not be about rebuilding.
“We have some smart players, so there’s no limitations to what plays you can run,” Holbrook said.
Glendale will have several returners in the mix, including senior utility player Anabel Beiki and senior driver Katren Ter-Oganesyan.
