SANTA CLARA, Calif - Soccer has been a part of Sofia Huerta's life since she was five years old. Huerta had the second most goals on the team during her freshman season for the Bronco women. Now an uprising sophomore, Huerta (SH) shared with SantaClaraBroncos.com (SCB) her pregame routine with the team, her favorite goal in her soccer career, and her hope to win the National Championship title with the team this upcoming season.
SCB: What age did you start playing soccer and when did you know it was something that was going to be a part of your life?
SH: I started playing soccer when I was five. When it came to soccer, I just think from a young age everyone knew that's what I was going to do. I would say once I started playing very completely and traveling to showcases – that is when I knew it was going to be my future. That was around 7th grade, so when I was 11 or 12.
SCB: What is your typical pregame routine?
SH: My typical pregame routine is as simple as listening to my music individually for about 20 minutes, but once I hit the locker room, it gets wild. Just dancing and getting pumped for the game is what helps me the most. But before I go out to the field, I quickly read over my notes that I've written down from my meetings I had that week with my coach. When it comes to food, the team has a pregame meal before every game. Either at Bill's (for an earlier game), or Zanatos (if it's an afternoon game).
SCB: How do you stay in shape during the off-season?
SH: To be honest, there isn't much of an off-season when it comes to D1 soccer. But while being home for the summer, just following what our trainer gives us in our summer packets, which includes cardio and lifting. I also go out on my own and play pick up games with friends. I also go running with my mom and our dogs.
SCB: During your soccer career, you have had a ton of big accomplishments. If you had to pick your favorite one, which one would it be?
SH: I would say getting to Santa Clara is my favorite accomplishment. Even thought it was expected for me to play at a university for soccer, I'm so thankful that it was a university like Santa Clara. The soccer, education and even just the atmosphere of the school is amazing. And it's definitely my greatest accomplishment in not only soccer, but my life so far.
SCB: Out of your many goals in your career, what has been your favorite?'
SH: When it comes to the goals question, that one is really hard to answer!!! I would maybe say my favorite goal was with my club team during regionals in Boise. We were playing the Southern California Blues, a team we had played four times and had gotten killed every time we faced them. But this time was different. I ended up scoring a diving header to make the game 1-0. It's one of my favorite goals for four reasons. A. Because it was with my head, B. Because it was against such a great team, C. Because it advanced us to the finals, and D. Because it was in front of all my family and friends in Boise.
SCB: What are your hopes for the upcoming season?
SH: A National Championship title! But overall, just an amazing season and a conference championship. Both of these goals will seed us high in the NCAA tournament, which will hopefully lead us to the most important goal, a national championship. Individually though, I just want to do anything I can for the team and beat my last year's scoring record.
Go Broncos!