Hummel gets Lodi on right path
Accomplishments: Shaina Hummel scored only one goal for the Lodi High girls soccer team last week.
But that shot came at the right time for the Flames junior midfielder. Opening Tri-City Athletic League action against Tracy, which won the league crown last spring, at the Grape Bowl, Hummel scored the game’s only goal in a 1-0 win. Going into today’s TCAL game against Lincoln, also at the Grape Bowl, Lodi is 1-0 in league and 8-4 overall.
“Keeping the ball under control led to our win,” Hummel said. “I was seeing us being aggressive and focused on the team. We were probably the most focused in awhile. It was a league game, and we really needed to beat Tracy to be in first place.”
The win seemed to have booted extra confidence into Hummel and her Flame teammates.
“I think we are little bit more confident because we beat Tracy,” Hummel said.
The last time Lodi had a game was five days before Christmas. In a non-league game against Liberty Ranch at Walker Park in Galt, the host Hawks posted a 2-1 win over the Flames. “It was extremely nerve-wracking,” said Hummel, whose Flames didn’t practice during the Christmas break because most players were out-oftown with their families. “We had all the odds against us going into the Tracy game.”
Hummel, who’s been playing soccer since she was 5 years old, is one of many players returning from last spring’s squad that finished in second place in the TCAL. The Flames took second place with a 10-1--4 record behind league champion St. Mary’s, and 16-5-4 overall. Lodi beat Vacaville and Bella Vista in the Sac-Joaquin Division II playoffs before losing to Granite Bay 2-0 in the semifinals.
This year’s team is like a family, Hummel states.
“I think we get along very well,” Hummel said. “We are really excited for league games. We really want to get first place in league.”
Playing soccer during the winter time doesn’t bother Hummel. That is because she plays club soccer year-round. She can handle the cold weather
and rain storms in the winter time to temperatures in the 100s in the late spring going into the summer months. But the weather outside can have an impact on a game; from the windstorms that hit the area Wednesday to the cold and rain.
“You’re outside all the time every day working your butt off,” said Hummel, who played for the California Cougars 18 and under travel team last year. “The weather can affect everything in the game.”
One of the benefits for the Flames is warming up as close to game time as possible.
“We go through our warm-ups as close as possible to game time, so that our bodies are warm,” Hummel said.
Another perk for Hummel and soccer moved to the winter is that it frees her up to play a spring sport. She’s leaning toward going out for the Lodi High girls track and field team this spring. Last fall, she was on the school’s cross-country team.
“I haven’t decided yet,” Hummel said. “I like (cross-country) because it keeps m in shape, and I seem to do pretty well.”
Hummel felt competing on the cross-country team, which won its 14th consecutive league title, benefited toward her for this soccer season.
“I feel a lot more prepared this year than last year and I feel better overall about my shape,” Hummel said.