Discussion of last season’s heartbreaking quarterfinals loss — a defeat to Sahuarita in sudden-death penalty kicks — is rarely heard around Sahuaro’s practices these days.
Yet the painful memory still lingers in the back of the players’ minds, senior forward Jasmine Simmons said, and the team is ready to prove it’s not going to happen again.
“It’s like we’re taking out the anger that we had then, now,” Simmons said. “We’re just showing everyone that we’re still capable of winning, and we’re coming on hard.”
Exacting revenge was easy — Sahuaro beat the Mustangs 3-0 in its first game of the season at the Brandon Bean Kickoff Classic, helping to ease some of the pain from last season, Cougars coach Dave Kruszewski said.
Getting past Catalina Foothills, the four-time defending Division II state champion, is a different story. But Simmons, who leads the team with 14 goals through nine games this season, has a plan:
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Being the best player in Southern Arizona.
“I want to end my senior year going out with a bang,” she said.
The UA commit already started the season with one award, taking home the Laura Kea trophy as the best field player at the Brandon Bean tournament. Her senior year will only be a success, though, with a state title in hand and her name in the newspaper next to the words “Player of the Year.”
“It’s possible, yes, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work,” Simmons said about finally taking the title away from Foothills. “It’s not going to be easy, that’s for sure. We have to do everything the right way, no shortcuts.”
Simmons finally has the role to make it happen, too. While she’s been a major factor on varsity the past three seasons, the striker is finally the No. 1 option up top now that Anyssa Dagnino is off playing at New Mexico Highlands University.
“She’s definitely a special one,” Kruszewski said about Simmons. “In a long list of talented athletes and forwards, particularly, that have come through the Sahuaro program, she’s right up there as one of the best. She’s grown so much from freshman year into a mature person, and very much team-oriented person despite her ability to shred defenses.”
The opposition has also taken notice of her talent. Simmons is seeing double- and triple-teams this season, as Kruszewski said he can hear coaches yelling from the sidelines “Everybody run to her!”
The track star has still been able to use her speed and foot skills to break through the heavy defenses. Or if teams are committing too much to her, Simmons can find one of her teammates, including junior midfielder and Arizona State verbal commit Allison Raniere, who is also an elite playmaker on the field.
As Simmons said, they can’t double-team both players, especially if Raniere moves up top because of a season-ending injury to forward Megan Felix.
“She is one of the best players in Arizona, for sure,” Raniere said about Simmons. “Having her as a teammate is just a great blessing, just because she’s been amazing and I love working with her.”
