Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week: Lauren Birchfield, No Holds Barred

Tony Altobelli

Lauren Birchfield calls her style of play “aggressive”. Coach Jason

Sorrell calls it “intense”. Others might call it just plain “crazy”.

Whatever adjective is used, one thing is for certain. Birchfield plays

like her hair is on fire and the Sailors improved because of it.

“Lauren gave us 110% in every game and every practice for us,” Sorrell

said of Birchfield. “She’s not the most vocal player on the field, but

her actions and effort speak for themselves.”

Newport held its opponents to only 23 goals, with 10 shutouts and

Birchfield’s all-out play on the defensive end was a large part of that.

“Coming into this season, we just hoped to do better than last year,”

Birchfield said. “We were young, but we’re all such great friends and we

had a ton of chemistry on the field. I don’t think age matters all that

much. We just wanted it more than we did last year.”

That determination helped the Sailors go from a 2-12-2 squad to

reaching the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division II

playoffs.

Not only was Birchfield a rock on the defensive end, the junior’s

no-fear style helped spark the Sailors’ offense in their wild card game

against Loara on Valentine’s Day.

With the game tied, 2-2, Birchfield hoisted her body among the masses

and managed to send a header into the net, helping the Sailors win, 5-3,

for the first playoff win in school history.

“Since I don’t mind playing aggressive, I get to play up front on

corner kicks,” the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week said. “I knew the game

was tied and I was saying to myself, ‘I’ve got to get this one in the

goal.’ Taryn (Flamson) sent a perfect kick to me and I managed to get a

head on it.”

From there, the Sailors knocked off Troy, 3-1, with Birchfield

stopping numerous offensive attacks by the Warriors.

“She was everywhere out there,” Sorrell said following the Feb. 16

game. “She was constantly making the big defensive play and she really

helped spark our offense.”

Birchfield also helped spark the offense of the Sailors’ field hockey

team which went 19-4-1 and won the team’s first Sunset League title in

recent memory.

“It’s funny because I play up front in field hockey and on defense in

soccer,” Birchfield said. “I actually like it better that way.”

If Sorrell has his way, Birchfield will remain the fixture in

Newport’s defense next year as well. “A lot will have to depend on who

comes back,” Sorrell said. “I’d like to keep our defense as close to the

way it was this year, because it was very successful.”

After the success of this season, Birchfield sees some big plans in

Newport’s soccer future. “I’m very optimistic about next year,” she said.

“We’re going to lose some key seniors but after getting a taste of the

CIF playoffs, we’re going to want more next year.”

In a perfect world, Birchfield would like to play soccer at either

Stanford, UCLA or Cal Poly San Luis Obispo following her senior year.

When not on the field of battle, Birchfield is doing volunteer work with

children at St. Andrews Church as well as Whittier Elementary.