MHS girls' soccer head coach Morgan Davis. Photo by William Lange

The former assistant coach for Maricopa High School girls’ varsity soccer will lead the team this year.

Morgan Davis is the new head coach for a team she is looking to unify after it lost its senior players in May.

Although tryouts are slated to begin in October, Davis said the majority of the team is already shaping up to consist of mostly juniors.

“The girls who are going to be seniors and juniors. We are really going to be looking at them to step up their game, to be role models for the upcoming freshmen and sophomores,” Davis said.

The program itself is welcoming many new faces both in coaching and in talent. Cory Rovens will be varsity assistant coach, and Mauricio Racines will head the junior varsity girls’ team.  Davis said it is an opportunity to create leaders as well as a cohesive, fresh program.

“I want everyone to see that even with the new coaches coming in – the new junior varsity coach, the new assistant varsity coach – that we are one,” she said.

The athletic program at the high school is led this year by new Athletic Director Brian Winter. He is working to connect middle school sports within the Maricopa Unified School District with the high school. Davis said she likes Winter’s direction.

“I love the program that he is wanting to incorporate into Maricopa and that goes for all sports, not just soccer,” Davis said. “What he’s looking at is building something in a town that has been overlooked for so long.”

Davis came to the district three years ago and has taught technology at Santa Cruz Elementary School.

She began playing soccer at the age of 7 and later played collegiately at a private university in Iowa, finishing her play at California State University, East Bay. The assistant coaching position at MHS came during the 2015-16 season. Her move to head coach is a transition Davis said she is ready to make.

“I want to create a program not only for the girls’ program, but a cohesive program for the boys and the girls – something we can consolidate together – where you look at the soccer program at Maricopa as a whole and you are proud of it,” Davis said.

The MHS girls’ soccer season begins in November and runs through February.