The Oakland Bishop O’Dowd High School girls’ soccer team is about to have a historic regular season.
Last week, the team defeated Berkeley High School with a perfect 14-0 record.
Going back to last year, the O’Dowder Dragons went undefeated in their last 32 regular season games, catapulting themselves from relative obscurity a few years ago to the top team in the North Coast Division.
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That transformation began three years ago with the arrival of head coach Mark Savvides and back-to-back talented freshman classes, completely reshaping the roster.
“A large portion of these players have seen this three-year process lead us to great success this year,” coach Savides said.
Savvides showed that success before the season even started. “We said we wanted to go undefeated, we wanted to go all the way, we wanted to win it all,” he told ABC7 Sports reporter Jason Appelbaum.
Senior Abby Forsgren said, “My reaction was, I’m ready to go, after losing in the NCS and state semifinals last year, I was so excited, so pumped, like yeah, let’s go for it this year, let’s go win!”
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Seniors Abby Forsgren and Chloe Keating are the only four-year starters on the team. Keating was last year’s player of the year.
One of the top scorers in the state, Forsgren will receive a ton of awards this year.
Freshman star Sadie Siedel is the Northern California Player of the Year in her age group. She also plays for the U.S. Women’s Under-16 National Team and plays for the Oakland Soul.
“Even though we play for different clubs, we all come together and create a super team of girls who are ready to compete and everyone wants to win, so I think it’s a great combination,” Sidell said.
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“She’s so talented, she’s so good! It frustrates me because I’m a goalie and I have to deal with her in training,” Parker Bridgeman said.
Despite the offensive firepower, the defense was nearly perfect, conceding just one goal all season.
O’Dowd defeated his opponents with an incredible 87-1.
“We have a great roster this year and we have so much talent and passion, so it’s an incredible season and it’s definitely something we’ve been working on for the last few years,” Dahlia Anderson said.
“These guys are not just happy to win, they want to win in good style and know they can do better,” Coach Savides said.
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Team chemistry is key too, and from pre-game rituals to out-of-town retreats, the connection we have with these girls runs deep.
Abby Forsgren said, “The environment we’ve built this year is a very close environment, very good friends…we all get to talk to each other and we all have a lot of fun together.”
Talent, dedication, coaching and chemistry – could it all add up to the first NorCal championship in O’Dowd program history? No matter what happens in the playoffs, this is a season for eternity.
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