Who would have thought that a program would have gone from a 4-8-2 record at the beginning of the decade to winning a California Interscholastic Federation Division 1 Championship just eight years later?
San Luis Obispo High School’s girls soccer team has had many great accomplishments over the years. This season marked their fifth consecutive league title and they have competed in CIF playoffs since the 2012-13 season.
“Girls soccer is one of the most dominant programs on campus,” said Athletic Director Jeff Brandow.
2015 took a big turn for the program as SLOHS principal Leslie O’Connor took charge as head coach of the team. He led the girls to a very successful season, going 14-0 in league and 27-2-1 overall.
The following season, coach Brittney Viboch became head coach and had a great connection with the girls and a visible impact on their season. They went 20-2-1 in the 2016-17 season.
“Brittney’s done a great job growing and developing the team,” said Brandow.
The 2018 CIF Southern Section Playoffs were a huge eye-opener for the girls. After thousands of miles of driving and late nights traveling hours to compete against southern teams, they made it to the CIF D2 final game against Temecula Valley High School. Unfortunately, the girls lost 2-3 in double overtime. But for the girls, this was just the start as they were even more motivated the following season to redeem themselves.
“If you look back seven years ago compared to now, there’s an expectation to win since we’ve gotten better,” said Brandow.
They got the opportunity for this redemption just a year later. In 2019, the team, once again led by Viboch, faced Clovis North in the CIF Central Section D1 Playoff final game. SLOHS’ girls soccer team finally came out victorious, defeating Clovis North 2-1 and becoming the first girls soccer team to win CIF and the first sports program ever at SLOHS to win a D1 title.
“Girls soccer winning league champs for five years in a row is great and now our expectation is to see where we go for CIF and state championships and win a state playoff game,” said Brandow.
