Wolverines Fueled by ‘Pali Power’

If the Harvard-Westlake High girls varsity soccer team succeeds in winning a CIF championship this season, “Pali Power” will be a big reason why.

The Wolverines are ranked No. 1 heading into the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs and six players hail from the Palisades: seniors Mackenzie Howe, Emma Sanderson and Mikaela Hong, juniors Courtney O’Brien and Alex Jackson and sophomore Quinn Frankel.

“We have a very common goal and we remind each other of it everyday,” said Howe, who lives in the Riviera neighborhood and has been one of the catalysts on a team that has won all but three of its 20 games and has posted 11 shutouts. “Chemistry is important to success on any team but having played together before makes it easier for us.”

All six Palisadians played AYSO and Howe, Sanderson and Hong proudly remember being teammates on the Pali Cats, a U10 girls squad that finished third in the state under head coach Steve Morris.

Howe, who also runs track, recently signed with Northwestern  University in Evanston, Illinois, where she lived until she was 3. In fact, her little sister Lochryn, now a freshman at Harvard-Westlake, was born at Northwestern Hospital.

“It’s a nice combination of strong academics and a good soccer program,” Howe said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Hong and Sanderson often carpool together. Hong, who lives near the Via bluffs, is headed for Washington University in St. Louis and Sanderson, who lives in the El Medio bluffs, has been accepted to Michigan’s engineering school but hasn’t committed yet. Though she still has another year of high school ahead, O’Brien has already committed to Princeton for soccer and said she enjoys driving to campus with Frankel.

Howe and O’Brien, who lives near the Getty Villa, also play together on Real So Cal’s U17 Elite Club National League team,  and Frankel, who lives in the Marquez neighborhood, plays on the Real So Cal’s U16 ECNL team squad. Sanderson plays for Valley United Soccer Club.

Jackson, who lives in Upper Bienveneda, shares a common bond with Howe, Sanderson and Hong: all four went to St. Matthew’s.

Thanks in part to “Pali Power,” the Wolverines have allowed only nine goals since their lone defeat to Mira Costa in mid-December. The Mission League champions (17-1-2) host Rancho Cucamonga in the first round tomorrow.