Athlete of the Week: Rodriguez proud of her battle scars
As a speedy senior forward with a knack for finding the goal, Emily Rodriguez led the Estancia High girls’ soccer team with 10 goals this season.
As a 5-foot-2 1/2 player with a willingness to sacrifice her body, Rodriguez probably also led the Eagles in battle scars.
“Just a lot of scars and bruises,” she said. “My legs are never pretty ... [but] it shows that I’m tough, and, ‘Yeah, I can compete with you guys.’”
Nobody could doubt the toughness of Rodriguez, one of Estancia’s three senior captains. In terms of gnarly injuries, she may have saved the best for last during Tuesday night’s CIF Southern Section Division 5 second-round playoff game against Oxnard Pacifica.
Late in the second overtime period, Rodriguez got pulled down from behind. The result was a nasty turf burn on her upper left thigh.
While the rest of the Eagles were preparing for penalty kicks, Rodriguez was a bit preoccupied. She ran off the field to get treatment from Estancia trainer Christine Murtha.
“It burns, but I’m used to them,” Rodriguez said. “It was bleeding, too, and that’s the first time it’s ever been bleeding. I was like, ‘Oh, that’s bad.’ It was getting all over my white jersey.”
She was able to refocus mentally. As the second player up in penalty kicks, she nailed a shot into the upper-left corner.
The Eagles eventually lost 1-1 (5-4 in the shootout), ending their season. There was disappointment after losing in the second round of CIF for the second straight year.
But to Rodriguez, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week, this was certainly a successful senior season, though not without adversity. The Eagles had to adjust to a new coach, Josh Juarez, and Rodriguez and fellow senior captain Brandi White were the team’s only seniors.
“This year with all of the adjustments, at first I was little sketched out with it,” Rodriguez said. “That kind of scared me, especially for my last year. But after the scrimmage, when we tied CdM 2-2, I got more confidence. Even though it’s a new team and new coach, we all just believed in each other. It showed with our season.”
Rodriguez just has a knack for scoring goals. She showed it back in her freshman year. In her first varsity start, she scored twice as Estancia beat rival Costa Mesa in the Battle for the Bell game. This year, she helped Estancia get the playoffs off to a good start, scoring twice in last week’s 3-1 win over Rowland Heights Rowland in the first round.
More than that, though, she is fun to watch because of her blazing speed.
“She’s probably the fastest girl I’ve ever coached,” Juarez said. “Some players have speed, and some players can transition that speed with the ball. She can do that with or without a ball. Some players slow down immensely when they have a ball at their feet, and she’s not one of them.
“I never have to question her effort on the field. She’s always 100%. There’s no middle ground with her ... that’s why every game she leaves the game with a lot of bumps and bruises and scratches. She probably ended the season on the worst one, with that big, old gash on her leg.”
Rodriguez said she got a late start in soccer, when she was 7 or 8 years old. Before that, she did ballet and gymnastics, but she found herself at home on the pitch. She started playing for AYSO and has played club soccer for Untouchables, Wolfpack and Tustin United.
Rodriguez is proud how united the Eagles (14-6-4) became this year. They earned their second straight Orange Coast League title, and this time they didn’t have to share. Rodriguez, White and the third captain, junior midfielder Katarina Freiberger, provided leadership.
Rodriguez said it’s fun going out on top with White, whom she’s known since kindergarten. The two have gone to St. Joachim Catholic School and Victoria Elementary, then TeWinkle Middle School, and finally Estancia. Both are four-year varsity players.
“We played Pilot Cup at St. Joachim, and at Victoria,” Rodriguez said. “We always have that special bond. We knew how to play with each other, but it’s mostly our friendship that kind of brought us closer together throughout our soccer careers.”
The high school career of Rodriguez may be over, but she said she plans to play at Santiago Canyon College. There she’ll join Alondra Guzman, who led Estancia in scoring in 2015 before graduating. Santiago Canyon has a strong program, as the Hawks went 18-3-2 last fall and advanced to the third round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs before losing to eventual state champion Cerritos College.
Another talented alumna from last year’s Estancia team, Alba Barrios, now plays at Cal State Fullerton. Barrios has been helping out at Estancia this season as an assistant coach.
On Tuesday night Barrios gave a hug to Rodriguez, who was crying after the tough playoff loss.
“She just said she was so very proud of me,” Rodriguez said. “She said if I’m doing this good now, she can’t imagine what I’ll be like in college. That really meant a lot to me. I’ve always looked up to her.”
In the same way, this year’s underclassmen for Estancia looked up to Rodriguez.
“She sacrifices her body for this team, and I think that just fuels our team,” Juarez said. “When you see your senior captain who’s maybe the smallest girl on the field giving you that, then the rest of the team kind of follows behind her.”
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Emily Rodriguez
Born: June 25, 1997
Hometown: Costa Mesa
Height: 5-foot-2 1/2
Sport: Soccer
Year: Senior
Coach: Josh Juarez
Favorite food: Seafood
Favorite movie: “Titanic”
Favorite athletic moment: Making her first start on varsity freshman year, when she scored two goals against rival Costa Mesa.
Week in review: Rodriguez had two goals as Estancia beat Rowland Heights Rowland, 3-1, in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs Feb. 18.
