Daily Pilot High School Female Athlete of the Week: Auguis fit in just fine for Laguna Beach

Shanai Auguis knew no English when she moved from the Philippines to Laguna Beach at the age of 10.

Auguis said she was living with her aunt and grandmother in General Santos, a large city with a population of nearly 600,000. But her mother Rocsan wanted to move Shanai to the United States, and she did a couple of years after Rocsan married Shanai’s stepfather Dave. Shanai was enrolled at Top of the World Elementary as a fourth-grader.

“A big change,” Shanai Auguis said. “Big change. I was quiet. [My classmates] would be like, ‘Oh, you don’t know how to speak English, so you shouldn’t be talking to us.’ But I got used to it, and tried to look forward … and now I’m here.”

Auguis worked hard to assimilate herself. She said she read a lot to quickly pick up the language. A favorite book was “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

“I read it over and over,” she said. “I kind of had to force myself to fit in with everyone.”

Auguis picked up soccer just before entering high school, learning to love the sport while playing it during lunchtime at Thurston Middle School. Now, as a junior for the Laguna Beach High girls’ soccer team, she fits in just fine on the back line.

The center back, the Daily Pilot High School Female Athlete of the Week, was a key player for the Breakers. Auguis helped Laguna Beach (12-10-2) win its second straight outright Orange Coast League title this season, as well as advance to the CIF Southern Section Division 4 quarterfinals for the second straight year.

It was the first time the Breakers had accomplished either feat in program history. The season ended Friday, as Laguna Beach lost 3-0 at top-seeded Menifee Paloma Valley in the Division 4 quarterfinals.

Sophomores Reilyn Turner and Jayd Sprague did much of the goal-scoring for the Breakers. Turner, a UCLA commit, scored 20 goals this season for Laguna Beach, while senior team captains Haylee Jarvis and Alden Kramer also provided leadership. But the defense — which also featured juniors Kerin Onodera and Brittain Sammons, freshman Peyton Mohammed and sophomore goalkeeper Camila Reese — was stingy as well.

The Breakers earned seven shutouts in 10 league games before blanking Crean Lutheran 4-0 in their CIF opener on Feb. 15. With the game in hand, Breakers first-year coach Ben Helm said that Auguis was the only player he didn’t remove late for rest purposes.

Laguna Beach then earned a 2-1 win at Lancaster Eastside in the second round of the Division 4 playoffs on Tuesday. Auguis said the Breakers had a shutout in that game too, until just before the final whistle.

At just under 5 feet 3, she describes herself as “small but mighty.” She’s also quick, as she runs track, where she’s the defending league champion in the 100 and 200 meters. The 4x100 relay team, which also featured Natalie Bush, Lauren Struss and Karmen Schmidt, won the league title last year as well.

“I think my speed helps a lot with defending,” Auguis said. “I’m pretty tiny, but I can give a lot for my side.”

This was her first year starting at center back. Last year, Auguis said she also played some forward. Former coach Bill Rolfing, who resigned after last season, wanted to try out Auguis up top after she had a hat trick in the Breakers’ season opener against Woodbridge. By the end of the season, she had settled into a role as a defensive midfielder.

Helm was happy to have her anchoring the back line this season. He knows that defenders don’t always get the limelight, but he recognizes the importance of Auguis to the team.

“She’s just done such a good job for us this year,” Helm said. “She’s aggressive in the air and she sacrifices her body all the time. The girl is just a mass of bumps and bruises.”

Auguis has enjoyed the ride. She now speaks fluid English and she has found herself fitting in well. Part of that is the family atmosphere that Helm cultivates, she said.

“It’s been amazing, just getting closer to all of the players and the family vibe,” she said. “Coach Ben has pushed us to be better, and it got us where we are.”

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Shanai Auguis

Born: Dec. 13, 1999

Hometown: Laguna Beach

Height: 5 feet 3

Sport: Soccer

Year: Junior

Coach: Ben Helm

Favorite food: Philippine chicken adobo

Favorite movie: The “Transformers” movies

Favorite athletic moment: Making a goal-saving stop with her stomach on the goal line in a North Orange County Classic tournament game this season against Los Angeles Marymount.

Week in review: Auguis, a defender, helped Laguna Beach shut out Crean Lutheran 4-0 on Feb. 15 in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs.

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo