October 2023 | Vol. 9 Iss. 10
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TRIO OF STANDOUTS LEAD COPPER HILLS TURNAROUND AS 13-3 TEAM ENTERS PLAYOFFS By Josh McFadden | j.mcfadden@mycityjournals.com
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year ago, the Copper Hills girls soccer team struggled to a 5-13 record and placed second-to-last in region play. This season was a whole lot different. The Grizzlies improved to an impressive 13-3 overall record this season. They were second in Region 2 with a 9-3 mark, just a game behind Mountain Ridge. Though Copper Hills relied on a team effort to have such a successful season, three players, in particular, paced the team. Senior Baylee Beck, junior Sydney Torres and freshman Camila Palafox—each in her own way—helped engineer the Grizzlies’ improvement. Beck led by example, working hard on and off the field. Her stellar play as a Grizzly is especially noteworthy considering she doesn’t have as much experience as many of her teammates and opponents. “I started playing soccer when I was 12, in the middle of 6th grade, which is a lot later than most of the girls I've been playing with since,” she said. “I got interested in soccer when my fifth grade teacher kept encourag-
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ing me to try it. He told me constantly that I’d love the sport and that I could be really good at it if I tried. A year later, when I signed up for my first rec league team, I immediately loved everything about the sport.” Torres, who had seven goals during the regular season, got involved at the young age of 4 and was playing competitively on a boys team by age 8. She soon moved to an all-girls team where she had tremendous success, winning tournaments all over the state and country. She said her father was her example and got her interested to start playing. “I got inspired by my father when I would watch him play,” Torres said. “I knew I wanted to be like him one day.” The youngest member of the trio, Palafox, quickly made a name for herself. Many ninth graders must wait a couple of years to even get a shot on the varsity team, but Palafox was too good for head coach Justin Hendrix to
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Sydney Torres dribbles downfield for the Copper Hills girls soccer team. The junior helped guide the Grizzlies to a 13-3 record. (Photo courtesy of Sydney Torres.)
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