ANDY WILCOX
Milton Gallegos, a 1996 St. Helena High graduate, coached the Saints' JV girls fall soccer teams in 2000 and 2001, the varsity girls from 2002 through 2009, and the varsity boys from 2010 through 2016.
After taking off three years to help his wife raise their three young children, followed by a 2020 season that was canceled due to the pandemic, he returned to the varsity girls helm in fall 2021 and guided the Saints to a 13-5-1 season that included a second-place finish in the North Central League I and a North Coast Section playoff win.
"We had three kids under (age) 5 at home so I decided to take a little sabbatical, but it didn't take long for the itch to come back," he said. "I came back home because of why I've been here so long: this is home. I played here and was on the first varsity team to play at night here, and I was part of one of the first varsity teams to go deep in the playoffs."
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He also coached the Napa High varsity girls in the spring, from 2015 through 2019 and 2021, before becoming the athletic director at Trinity Prep/Kolbe Academy in Napa and reviving their girls and boys soccer programs.
Coaching the Saints' girls, Gallegos was happy the NCL I started playing in the winter two years ago. Even though first-round playoff losses to University High of San Francisco resulted in sub-.500 overall records of 8-9-1 and 6-7-1, St. Helena still managed to have more wins than losses in league play.
"In the fall, unfortunately, there's only small teams and not many competitive teams," he said. "I like winter soccer a little better because it's going to be dark anyway and we're able to have a set time in the evening. In the fall, to avoid using lights, we would cram the games in early. Another part of us moving to winter was getting our JV team back."
Moving to winter also meant girls didn't have to choose between soccer and the fall sport of volleyball. The improvement of the volleyball program, however, has meant a later start for its players who also play soccer.
Six of his 16 soccer players saw their volleyball season end in the North Coast Section Division 5 third-place match -- which was held to determine which semifinal loser would advance to the state playoffs -- only five days before the soccer team opened its season with a 3-0 loss at Healdsburg.
"They just need a little time on the field to mesh well because unfortunately it's going to be a slightly rougher start for us this year," Gallegos said after a 5-1 home loss to Moreau Catholic in the Saints' second game. "With the success of our volleyball team -- which obviously I'm very happy and proud of and what they did -- half of our starters were on that volleyball team.
"So we didn't actually get together until two days before our first game as a whole team. We had to cram in a lot into a very short amount of time and now we're in games, so normally we try to get everything dialed in before our first game but now we're going to have to dial things in as the games progress."
One of those volleyball players is the soccer team's only fourth-year varsity starter and captain, senior sweeper Gemma Hanna.
"She's the one we look up to, the heart of our defense the last couple of years, and she's involved heavily in our set plays," Gallegos said of corner kicks and free kicks where defensive players get involved in the scoring. "She started that role last year and this year it's kind of her team now."
Hanna is joined on the back line by sophomore Juliana Carroll, who also started last season.
"She's kinda following in Hanna's footsteps, but she has a different story," Gallegos said. "Juliana came from playing club soccer, so she came in very seasoned as a freshman. When it came to skill, she knew what she was doing; she understood the game. She just had to adapt to the varsity difference in age group and difference in skills."
Alice Baxter, another volleyball player, is in her third varsity season as a junior forward and leads the Saints with three goals -- all coming in a 5-0 win at American Canyon in their third game, the others coming off the feet of senior Katie Trejo and sophomore Isabella Torres.
"We rely on Alice to be one of our goal scorers," the coach said. "She's a tough, tough player when it comes to our attack."
Junior defender Journey Penterman scored against Moreau Catholic, junior America Garcia found the net in a 2-1 loss to Healdsburg on Dec. 6, Torres and senior Rosemary Vazquez scored in a 2-0 win at Napa on Dec. 10, and Vazquez converted again in a 7-1 loss at Justin-Siena on Dec. 13.
Rounding out the team are seniors Emily Glakeler, Charlie Hoffmeister, Hartleigh Demchuk and Tatjana Janev, juniors Felicity Penterman, and sophomores Yannel Olguin, Quesia Sanchez and Brianna Diaz.
"My entire midfield, basically, graduated last year so this year I've been using five midfielders and all five are sophomores," Gallegos said. "They are very skilled players, very eager players, with a lot of energy. They just lack some experience in games."
The Saints (2-6) are scheduled to host St. Vincent de Paul on Jan. 7 before opening NCL I play against visiting Kelseyville on Jan. 9. They then visit Sonoma Academy, which hasn't lost a league match since February 2020 -- not even in the NCL I the last two seasons -- before visiting Cloverdale on Jan. 16 and Roseland University Prep on Jan. 21. The schedule repeats after that, including another nonleague matchup with St. Vincent de Paul but on the road.
"We've beaten the other three members of the league, but Sonoma Academy has been a major thorn in our side," Gallegos said. "(Coyotes) Coach Chris Ziemer has a really good squad over there every year, a really well-trained squad, but I think we have the ability to match them and be competitive with them.
"It's one of those things where we need to learn mentally not to fold, to keep our focus when we're playing a good solid team. A couple of years ago, the attitude was 'Oh, we're down 2-0, we're going to lose big' and you saw the energy and discipline kinda leave the team. But if we can maintain our discipline and push them, I think we'll be competitive."
If not this year, maybe next winter.
"With this young group, if you give them one full calendar year playing on varsity, we're only going to get a lot better," Gallegos said.
By the way, volleyball head coach Michael Hanna shouldn't be too mad if Gallegos places some of the blame on him for the soccer team's slow start. He's Gallegos' much-appreciated assistant coach, now in his third year on his staff.
"I've got to give a shout-out to Michael Hanna," Gallegos said. "He takes care of all injuries. Any team needs for stretches or equipment, he's on it. Then once the game starts, he's a great person to have next to me to bounce ideas off of. He's awesome to work with. I'm really lucky to have him."
Baxter was the Saints' offensive MVP last year, tying for the team lead with five goals, and said she's grown mentally since her freshman year.
"I've learned that it's good to be aggressive and to have confidence in how you play," she said. "I'm excited to see how this team does because we have a lot of young players coming up. I think we can achieve our big goal of going farther in the playoffs because it's young team with a lot of skill.
"I love Milton and Michael a lot. They're great coaches. Milton is a very serious coach but it helps us and pushes us to be better. Michael's always helpful and always treating the injured and helping with everything. They're going to help us go far. I want to beat Sonoma Academy because they're a really strong team and I'm hoping we can turn that around and maybe get a win for ourselves."
Gemma Hanna said her favorite sport is volleyball, but enjoys soccer because she's been playing it a lot longer and has become more competitive every year in it.
"I believe my confidence level has gone up, and my leadership abilities, skill and communication on the field," she said. "We have great coaches and I look forward to being coaches by them every year.
"I want to beat Roseland Prep this year. Last year the games against them were pretty aggressive and I want to be more aggressive this year and win again."
Carroll said she enjoys playing with seniors such as Hanna and Hoffmeister.
"I really enjoy playing with people who are a bit older because of their experience and leadership," she said, "and the coaches give good advice on soccer and life."
Dave Mosher contributed to this report.
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