By Sophia Vaughan
Sports Editor
Girls soccer is kicking off the holiday season by competing in the 40th-annual South Holiday Classic.
The tournament is hosted by South Torrance High School and will take place tomorrow, Dec. 19, and Dec. 23. The games will be played on five fields and at three high schools, including South Torrance, Redondo Union, and Torrance High.
While most soccer games are comprised of 40-minute halves, each game will be reduced to 35-minute halves to maximize playing time, according to schedules released by South Torrance. The first round will begin at 8 a.m., and games will continue throughout the day.
“We’ve been training everyday and going all out in all of our pre-league games to prepare,” sophomore Sierra Sargent said. “We even started going to the gym to build strength.”
The Mustangs will be in Pool A and will play all of their games at South High’s stadium. Costa is set to play Marymount High School at 8 a.m. and Central City High School at 11 a.m. tomorrow. Later games will be determined by performance, and the Mustangs will either play on Dec. 19 or Dec. 23.
Costa soccer has been hard at work in the offseason and boasts an impressive roster this year, with many committed athletes. So far, four of the team’s seniors, Grace Watkins, Emilee Ray, Rachel Rosen, and Ashley Naylor, have already signed with Division 1 Colleges.
Last year, the Mustangs went to CIF Finals, and they hope to live up to high expectations for this year. This will be Costa’s first tournament of the season and will be a test for the Mustangs, who hope that their hard work in the preseason will pay off, according to Sargent.
“I am looking forward to seeing the competition,” Sargent said. “Our team has changed a lot since last year, so it will be interesting to see the changes other teams made.”
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