Johnson wears lots of ‘hats’ for Bruins
With the St. Patrick-St. Vincent High girls soccer team recently losing a key member of its squad for the season due to an injury, senior captain Alexci Johnson knew she had to double her efforts to keep the Bruins successful.
St. Pat’s fans were thrilled, however, when Johnson went a notch further and tripled her efforts.
Good things came in threes last week for the lone senior of the Bruins as Johnson scored a hat trick in a win over Swett and then duplicated it with another three-goal game in a win over Kennedy just a day later.
Johnson is the Times-Herald Athlete of the Week.
“It felt good to get the sixth goal and hat trick against Kennedy, but I honestly don’t remember how I got that particular goal,” Johnson said, with a a laugh. “I just remember I was really tired.”
Johnson said her favorite goal of the week game in the first half against Kennedy.
“I had a really good combo with our midfielder Isabella Campos,” Johnson said. “I believe we won the ball back and then I dribbled for a while before I passed to Isabella. I ran past my defender on the outside, received the pass and then zigzagged between two people before scoring in the top right corner of the net.”
St. Pat’s head coach Bruno Carraro said he’s liked how Johnson has stepped up her game since a key injury to Kaia Ilagan-Evangelista against Salesian earlier this month.
“She’s had a different attitude and wanted to put the team on her back this past week,” Carraro said. “We needed her to be more aggressive, but also more available for passes instead of just playing 1-on-1 all the time. During her three-goal games I was happy that a lot of the goals came on assisted plays.”
This year Johnson has 15 goals, although she also shined during her junior season in which she scored 23 times. The team is also winning once again, as the Bruins have a 7-1-1 record heading into their Tuesday’s matchup against Bethel.
The 17-year-old Johnson is also a force playing softball. As a junior Johnson batted .490 with 20 RBIs. She began playing soccer first at the age of 7, but soon after began playing softball at the age of 9. The Bruin said she does not prefer one sport over the other, but does acknowledge she grows sick of each of them from time to time.
“I’ve played both my whole life basically, and I play club soccer and travel softball,” Johnson said. “I don’t have a favorite, but there are times I get tired of one and it’s usually at practices. I like games a lot more than practices. But each sport has their strengths and weaknesses for me.”
Although practices can sometimes be a bummer, the Bruin said this team has been a blast to play for. After Tuesday’s matchup against Bethel, St. Pat’s has a vital game against Salesian Thursday on the road. St. Pat’s came in second place in the Tri-County Athletic League Stone Division standings last year before falling in the first round of the North Coast Section playoffs to Piedmont.
“The thing I would like
to see continue from our team is our communication, which has been very good,” Johnson said. “We need to improve a little bit more on our possessional play, because the more time we have the ball, the more opportunities we will have to score. We also need to not force shots. If we play our best it will be a really close game, but I think we’ll be fine if we pass the ball well and talk a lot.”
Carraro agreed with the senior and also said the team has played well lately thanks to not only Johnson, but also the defensive exploits of players like Ella Dichoco and Giovanna Sweeney to name a few.
“The defense and possession game have been a lot better for us,” the Bruins head coach said. “We progressively keep getting better as the season goes on. We want to get back to the league championship game. We fell a little short last
year, but we would like to try and win it this season.”
Honorable mention
• Jaden Alexander, St. Pat’s boys basketball. Alexander had 28 point and eight rebounds in a win over St. Mary’s on Tuesday. He also had 14 points later in the week in a loss to Salesian. Finally, he had 25 points in a loss against Folsom on Saturday.
• Deven Johnson, Vallejo High boys basketball. Johnson had 23 points in a win over Bethel and added 11 points earlier in the week against Swett.
• Christin Locke, American Canyon girls soccer. Locke had two goals in a win over Napa.
• Emma Lopez, American Canyon girls wrestling. Lopez (189pounds) took first place in the Jaguar Classic at Jesse Bethel High School on Saturday. She went 3-0, pinning all her opponents,
including the number one seed to take championship honors.
• Lauren Rose, Benicia
High girls soccer. Rose had three goals in a win over Mt. Diablo.
• Tameiya Sadler, St. Pat’s girls basketball. Sadler had 17 points, 10 rebounds and three steals in a win over Bethel on Tuesday.
• Madison Salinas, Benicia girls soccer. Salinas had a game-winning goal Wednesday night against Acalanes.
• Noah Simmons, American Canyon boys basketball. Simmons had 21 points in a win over Napa. He also had 10points in loss to Petaluma.
• Bryele Wallace, Vallejo girls basketball. Wallace had 13 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks in a win over Richmond.