MOULTRIE – The Colquitt County girls soccer team got a 7-0 scrimmage victory over Dodge County on Friday in Eastman to help usher in the 2025 season.
Second-year head coach Carlos Bautista lost several key players from the 2024 team that went 5-11-1 and will head into Tuesday’s season-opener at Bainbridge with a roster than includes no 12th-graders.
“It’s exciting and scary at the same time to say there are no seniors on the team, but the younger girls have really filled in some big shoes,” he said.
Among the players who graduated from the 2024 team were first-team all-region selections Mollie Hewett and Tatum Salter, who committed to play at ABAC.
There are as many as seven positions up for grabs as the season start.
“Thankfully, the program has continued to have healthy numbers,” he said.
Among the returning players that Bautista is counting on this season are Jackie Choc, Jennifer Cano, Chelsea Moreno, Jasmin Grijalva, Eidi Gachuz, Marely Ocampo, Rhylee Tillery and Jaida Gachuz.
Bautista said those players have “stepped up and put some of the weight of the team on their shoulders.”
Moreno was a second-team All-Region performer last season and Gachuz earned honorable mention.
Moreno, Gachuz and Tillery represented Colquitt County in the 229 All-Star Game.
Bautista said there are a number of players that fans might not be familiar with but will quickly get to know.
They are Jenidi Leon, Vashti Camacho, Melanie Avila, Allyson Portillo, Marley Armstrong, Lucy Taunton, Judith Moctezuma, Cadence Cox, Taylor Hewett and Lydia Allegood.
Melanie Avila and Genesis Martinez also are expected to contribute to the 2025 Lady Packers.
The managers are Raquel Morales, Leslie Hernandez and Marina Perez.
Bautista is assisted by Sarah Thomason and Daliza Gachuz.
Choc helped lead the Lady Packers in the win over Dodge County with three goals.
Gachuz scored twice. Taunton, a freshman, also scored, as did the veteran Cano.
The Colquitt County soccer teams will play their first matches at Packer Park on Friday, February 14.
The girls game will start at 5:30 p.m. with the boys match to follow.
The Region 1-6A portion of the schedule will start on Tuesday, February 18, when Valdosta visits Packer Park.
Deliza Gachuz is coaching the junior varsity girls team and is being assisted by Thomason and Bautista.
The JV girls team includes Alexia Luna, Kinlee Luna, Ann Brown, Allison Quiroz, Aileen Martinez, Keylee Sanders, Kamila DeAngel, Dru McLeod, Emily Portillo, Valeria Cano, Ashleigh Lopez, Genesis Martinez, Yulissa Torres, Jade Gonzalez, Francia Crisostomo, Miley Avila, Melissa Nunez, Natasha Romulo, Emily Baker, Karen Mendoza, Dayanara Rodriguez and managers Josephina Soukone and Mia Avila.