December 22, 2025

Written by Dave Smith

RIVERSIDE:  In the Raincross Cup held at Poly High School, the girls soccer team  (9-2-3) played 6 games in 6 days and battled colds, muscle fatigue, and some game bruises to finish with four wins and two ties while continuing to work on their team chemistry and game play on the field.

In the end the process resulted in their defense of the tournament title they earned in 2024.

Their first game was a 1-1 tie against Vista Murrieta with the lone goal coming from Sophomore Lucy Allen.

In the second game, King came out on top of Rancho Verde 3-0 with two goals scored by Lucy and one by Gianinna Barillas.

In the third match, King faced a rematch with Poly and came out on top 4-1, thanks to three goals by Angelina Enriquez and one by Gianinna.

In the championship game against Vista Murrieta,  Lucy scored two more goals, and Brya Hudson and Kayden Wallace scored as well to make the final score 4-0.

After the championship was won, Captain Samantha McWaters said of the team’s efforts, “we came out strong in this tournament, with three wins, a championship title, and a victory over Poly. I am incredibly proud of our performance and look forward to continuing a strong season these upcoming weeks.”

We made some adjustments coming into the tournament that paid off. We are still working on strengthening our bench so that we will have a deep team coming into league play next month.

When the girls executed the game plan, we had success that we hope to build on moving forward. The girls did a great job in the tournament, and I believe that this will give them confidence as their schedule only gets tougher with league play starting soon.