After losing 10 seniors from the previous year as well as senior starting striker Angelica Chou, the 2023-24 Menlo girls soccer season was a rebuilding year that ended with a third-place finish in the West Bay Athletic League and a first-round loss in the Central Coast Section Division IV playoffs.

With Chou fully recovered from her ACL tear and the nine current seniors stepping up to lead the team, head coach Ross Ireland has high hopes for the 2024-25 season. The team’s main goal is to win league and make it further in the CCS playoffs. “The overall depth of the team gives us great optimism to provide a successful season,” Ireland said. “[Last season,] there was a feeling that there was a little left out there and we had more to achieve.”

The team has a total of 23 players, including three freshmen. “Everyone knows that it’s going to be competitive to get playing time,” senior co-captain Audrey Hochstetler said.

One of the major goals of the team this season is more bonding between upperclassmen and underclassmen. The team is having more team lunches and encouraging different grades to mingle during practice.

Junior Julia Axelrod believes that as well as an emphasis on group bonding, the energy has changed this year from previous years. “Everyone is super driven and practices have been really intense,” Axelrod said.

Ireland agrees with Axelrod, going further to say that in the eight years he’s been coaching at Menlo, this year’s team has the best leadership and chemistry he’s seen on any team he’s coached at Menlo.