Player Spotlight: Sierra Simmons, women's soccer, defender

With the Cal Poly women’s soccer team’s loss to rival UC Santa Barbara Friday, the team also lost its bid to enter the Big West champion tournament. Kinesiology senior Sierra Simmons spoke to the Mustang Daily about her experiences with the team and at Cal Poly.

 

Mustang Daily: I know it was a hard loss to Santa Barbara last Friday, but how did you feel about the team’s performance during the game?

Simons: That game was pretty bad, but it was basically our entire season in a nutshell. The other team would get lucky and we were just unable to score or hit the goalposts.

MD: So did that loss end Cal Poly’s chances for the postseason?

SS: We still have a chance at the NCAA championship. If we won the Big West you get into the championship automatically, but there’s a coach’s association that can vote a team in.

MD: I am unfamiliar with many of the soccer position responsibilities. What does your position of defender entail?

SS: I am mainly concerned with defense in the center back of the field. Since we see the whole field while in the back, we can direct everyone on where they should go.

MD: Did you been play soccer back in high school as well?

SS: I went to Analy High School in Sebastopol. It’s a small 8,000-person city about an hour north of San Francisco. I got a partial scholarship at Poly my first three years and a full scholarship this year.

MD: Why were you boosted to a full scholarship this year?

SS: Usually the more you play the more the school gives you for a scholarship.

MD: So why did you decide to come to Cal Poly?

SS: I like the coaches a lot here. They’re not too intense to scare you but still good at coaching. This city is also in such a beautiful area, but my teammates are by far my favorite part of being here.

MD: Any really embarrassing things ever happen to you during soccer games?

SS: I try to block out anything embarrassing, but I am sure I have hit some own goals.

MD: Own goals?

SS: That’s when the ball bounces off you or something into your own goal, and then gives the other team a point.

MD: Are there any other teams besides Santa Barbara that the soccer team has a rivalry with?

SS: There’s Fullerton. They’re the toughest team we’ve played.

MD: What are your future plans with soccer?

SS: I’m looking to go to Europe since there is no women’s pro team here. I’m not sure what country, but I am thinking about Spain or Holland.