In a sport that’s been dominated locally by Thomas Dale and Matoaca high schools for years and in the region by Mills Godwin, Douglas Freeman and Glen Allen high schools, Meadowbrook High School’s girls soccer team showed tremendous strides this year with their first winning season: 8-7-1.
A big reason for the Monarchs’ historic season was junior Joanne Torres, who is the Village News girls soccer Player of the Year.
Torres ended up being the third best scorer in Class 5, Region B with 23 goals and four assists. She was named first team All-Region and All-Academic. She was one of two athletes not from Glen Allen, Deep Run, or Douglas Freeman who received first-team accolades.
“Joanne is a forward who is incredibly gifted with the ball at her feet, is aggressive and can take defenders on with ease,” Meadowbrook coach Joe Farrell said. “She can score with both feet and set up
her teammates as well. She also possesses incredible pace and speed which makes her a threat to beat the defenders every time.”
The team started out of the gates well, winning four of their first five games with wins over Hermitage, Highland Springs, Hopewell and L.C. Bird. During that five-game stretch, they outscored their opponents 31-8.
The program has put three young ladies in the college ranks too. Adriana Rosales committed to Randolph-Macon College in 2017. Jena Derksen and Marisela Barron will head to Richard Bland College this fall. Torres hopes to join them in playing collegially.
Academics should be no problem for Torres, who is a member of Meadowbrook’s International Baccalaureate program with a 4.5 grade point average. At year’s end, she ranked sixth in her class and was a member of the National Honor Society.
Colleges have shown interest, too. According to Farrell, there are several schools on her trail – both Division II and Division III.
