“She just worked extremely hard.”
Notching first-team accolades for the Falcons were senior defender Dana Dowse, senior midfielders Olivia Sierra and Danny Cardenas and senior goaltender/forward Amanda Rose Johnson.
“I’m very proud of each and every one of them,” said Rivas, who was also voted the league’s coach of the year by his counterparts. “They’re gonna be sorely missed next year.”
Boukidis was the second straight Falcon to garner league MVP honors, following Tori Baldridge.
In addition to Baldridge, Brittany Berger and an assortment of other departed seniors, the Falcons also had to make due with the loss of Jordan Royer, last season’s leading scorer, to injury.
“Her contributions were big because of that,” said Rivas of Boukidis.
Nonetheless, Boukidis was surprised at receiving the MVP award.
“I was surprised cause there’s a lot of good players in the league,” she said. “It’s an honor.”
In addition to her skills, Boukidis’ work ethic, energy and toughness were also at the forefront. Off to play at Northern Illinois next season, Boukidis was briefly sidelined by a concussion late in the season, but quickly rebounded to help the Falcons clinch league and advance to the second round of the CIF playoffs.
“My goal was always to go out and give it 110%,” she said. “Since I think I did that, I’m really happy with the season.”
Graduating after having won the Pacific League title with a 12-1-1 league mark was also a sense of accomplishment for Boukidis and her fellow seniors.
“That was our goal from the start was to win league again,” she said. “It was a great way to end things.”
Johnson had 11 shutouts on the season and also had seven goals as a forward.
