CANYON’S MCKAIL MAKING AN IMPACT
Canyon’s Claudia McKail spearheading offense in postseason
Forget graduating high school in May, Canyon girls soccer senior Claudia McKail is just trying to keep her head above water through February.
It’s been a good kind of busy for McKail, though.
The month started with her signing her National Letter of Intent on Feb. 7 to play at NCAA Division 2 Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, New York.
As the month comes to a close, she’s continued to serve as the centerpiece of Canyon’s best playoff run in coach Derek
Rusk’s six seasons at the helm.
“It’s been so hectic,” McKail said. “It’s been very nerve racking, actually, because I’m going across the country and with quarterfinals … both stresses are taking a toll. “But I’m managing.” A modest McKail has done more than simply manage.
She led the Cowboys with 13 goals and seven assists in the regular season and scored both goals in the team’s 2-1 win over Marymount in the second round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 tournament.
The road doesn’t get any easier for McKail and Canyon, though. They’ll head to Garden Grove on Friday afternoon to take on Pacifica — the No. 1 seed in Division 2.
“The playoffs are a different beast sometimes,” Rusk said. “You need that senior leadership to step up so the other girls see what things are supposed to look like.”
As far as seniors go, Canyon doesn’t possess all too many. McKail and Jennifer Patino are the team’s only four-year varsity starters, meaning they’re the only players who were on the roster for Canyon’s last playoff run in 2015.
“We can’t be scared because it’s the quarterfinals,” McKail said. “We have the skill and we just need to know that we can play at anyone’s level.”
Being a part of the team’s handful of seniors, these playoff games certainly bring on a little extra meaning for McKail and Patino.
“I take it as motivation,” McKail said. “I don’t want it to be my last game.”
When that last game does occur this season, though, it won’t be the last competitive soccer game for either player.
McKail, of course, will be heading to New York while Patino hopes to continue her soccer career at College of the Canyons.
The two friends who entered Canyon’s varsity team as shy freshmen will then have nearly the entire country in between them.
“Just being with her since we were freshmen, all we had was each other,” Patino said. “I’m so excited for her.”
McKail shares in the excitement as going away for college had long been a goal of hers. After a visit to Mercy College last summer, which is about 40 minutes from Manhattan, it was a fairly easy decision.
“It’ll be a cool transition,” McKail said. “It’ll give me new experiences to change the way I look at things.”
Before that transition, the month of February and some more playoff soccer still awaits.