'Homey' sharp up front for Stars
Victoria Stars' striker Nahiomy Ortiz heads a ball against the Fraser Valley Action, Sunday at Hampton Park.
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There's no mistaking Nahiomy Ortiz on the pitch.
The smallish 16-year-old is the leading scorer for the Victoria Stars' women's soccer team with eight goals in the Pacific Coast Soccer
League. And she's the only player with her hair in a vertical pony tail.
"This is the best level I can play at, there's so much experience on
this team."
Here from Bogota, Columbia, via a six year stint that saw her live in Miami, North Carolina, Buffalo and Ontario, Ortiz brings a lot of game for a
youngster, having played in a variety of elite programs and academies. No stranger to high-caliber soccer, Ortiz played in the FIFA World Under-17 women's soccer championships in New Zealand last September. Now residing in Vic West, she studied at Reynolds secondary school's Centre for Soccer
Excellence (CSE) this year and will return there again in September.
"This type of soccer is different, the Stars play quick. With Columbia we were much more likely to take a couple of touches and and slow the
play down. The Spanish style of soccer.
"The Stars' style is to speed it up."
Despite her ill intentions towards opposing goalies on the pitch, she's as friendly as teens come. Her teammates even call her "Homey."
"Coach (Brent Garraway) started (the nic name) and now everyone on the team is calling me that," said Ortiz.
Missing Kendra Flock and Liz Hansen this year, the Stars are without many of its veteran players - and its high schoolers like Ortiz who're stepping it up. Molly Stone, a fellow Reynolds student, and Lindsay Butler, who attends Francis Kelsey secondary in the Cowichan Valley have played solid minutes so far.
With Olympic qualifying games scheduled for this fall, the Columbian national team is coming calling again. As long as Ortiz is playing for the Columbian under-23 team, she retains her eligibility to play for Canada as well. "(Buffalo and Ontario) was too cold and being from Columbia, I love the sun and heat, it just made sense we find somewhere I could train year round," she said.
The striker is prominent in every game she plays, though its been two games since any Stars have scored. Victoria were unable to beat
Fraser Valley Action goalie Nikki Turner last week, losing 3-0 to the league's best team, and were shutout again on the weekend, losing 1-0 at home to the
Coquitlam Extreme.
"We just need to work on our consistencies," said Garraway.
"We get a good first half but not a good second half."
Through 12 games, Victoria is in third place with a record of eight wins, three losses and two ties, and have a lock on a playoff spot.
The Stars are next in action Saturday, (July 11) 2 p.m. at Hampton Park against Semiahmoo FC.
sports@vicnews.com
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