When Sophia Mendoza steps onto a soccer field she doesn’t stand out.
But when the whistle blows and the game gets started it’s only a matter of time before Mendoza is making an impact.
Mendoza, a 5-foot-2 forward/striker sophomore at Archbishop Mitty High may not be the biggest in size but often makes the biggest impact on the field.
“She’s not the biggest kid on the field but between her ability and her intelligence she is a natural competitive killer,” Mitty coach J.T. Hanley said. “When she steps on the soccer field, she becomes a totally different person.”
Mendoza, who last week gave a verbal commitment to play at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, has helped lead the Monarchs back into a familiar position as Mitty is in the mix to capture its sixth straight West Catholic Athletic League title.
Last year's team graduated 11 seniors — including the Prep2Prep Central Coast Section Player of the Year Kristina Sola (now playing at UC Davis), CCS Senior of the Year Amy Apostol (MIT) and first-team all-WCAL selection Ashley Kirchick (UC Santa Barbara) — so Mendoza was often little more than the team's best-kept secret.
Mendoza garnered first-team all-WCAL and all-Prep2Prep first-team honors while finishing fourth on the Monarchs in goals last year with 11 behind Apostol, Sola and Kirchick - all while taking the WCAL by a surprise.
This year Mendoza is tied with fellow sophomore Hailey Smith in goals with six and is tied for the team lead in assists with five.
“She’s not a secret anymore,” Hanley said. “Her numbers - while they are still impressive - they are a little bit down from what they were last year I think her game has actually matured a little bit now. She causes a lot of teams to focus a lot of attention on her so that creates space for other players who have benefited from her ability and savvy on the field.”
Mendoza will be on full display on Wednesday when Mitty hosts St. Francis at 3:15 p.m. at John Mise Park.
The Lancers are two points ahead of the Monarchs for first place in the WCAL.
Since losing its WCAL opener back in early January to Presentation, Mitty has won seven of its last nine contests and hasn’t relinquished a single goal over that span.
During that span, Mendoza has scored four goals and assisted on three others.
“I’m just a competitive person,” Mendoza said. “I like to win, I don’t have half-ass anything when I play it’s all or nothing.”
It’s that spirit that win at all cost attitude that separates Mendoza from other players.
It’s not that she’s the fastest (she isn’t), it’s not that she’s the quickest (she isn’t), Mendoza has that knack for knowing what to do and when to do it.
“One thing about Soph is she’s so good on the ball a lot of people might think she’s a selfish player,” Hanley said. “But actually she’s one of the most unselfish players I’ve coached in years. Because she reads the game exceptionally well for a sophomore.
“We always know in games that count she’s always going to put us in a position to get a result.”
After taking a bit of a backseat last year as a freshman Mendoza has come into her own on a team that features only six seniors on its 25-player roster.
While she may not grow much in height, her maturity as a leader and a teammate grows by the day.
“I think she’s stepped into her role,” said junior teammate and captain Giuliana Calia. “I don’t think we really look back to last year; all the girls want to make their own mark on this year. All the players like Sophie are really stepping up.”
Mendoza has been playing soccer since she started running and plays year around for Santa Clara Sporting when not playing for Mitty.
Her love for soccer runs deep as Mendoza said she gets two weeks off prior to starting practice with Mitty and two weeks off at the end of the year before getting right back on the field.
As this season has come along, Mendoza has gotten more and more comfortable with her teammates.
“Soph has transitioned very well, is working well with our whole team like she did last year,” teammate Kylie Rego said. “She’s getting a lot more minutes than last year and I’m really proud of her she’s working her butt off all the time.”
Hanley kind of likens Mendoza to more of a Lionel Messi than Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo looks the part — size, speed and agility — as opposed to Messi, who isn’t the biggest but whose ability and intelligence is almost second to none.
Mendoza relies on her ability and intelligence and has to because nearly every time she steps foot onto the field she’s the smallest player out there.
Hanley admits that Mitty is lucky to have her while other teams are unlucky to play against her.
“There were always one or two players around back in my playing days that if they weren’t on your team you hated them and that’s her,” Hanley said. “We’re lucky that she’s on our team. I’d hate to have to coach against her and have my players play against her because she’s very, very good and never has anything but 100 percent commitment in a game.”
As a sophomore Mendoza can still opt to play at another college, but just as Mitty is happy to have her, Mendoza is glad to have her college selection already out of the way so she can focus on school and soccer.
“I’m happy with my decision,” she said.
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Ryan Silapan can be reached at rsilapan@prep2prep.com follow him on Twitter @RyanSilapan
