Siemonsma big threat for Newport Harbor
When Newport Harbor High girls’ soccer coach Larry Draluck compares sophomore forward Sianna Siemonsma to retired basketball center Shaquille O’Neal, it might seem like a stretch.
Siemonsma stands 5-foot-8. O’Neal is 7-1 and upward of 300 pounds.
But the point Draluck is making is that for both players, opposing teams feel like they can get away with a lot.
“I’m always working the refs before the game,” Draluck said. “Just because she’s strong, I don’t want to ask her to be cynical and fall down on purpose to get the calls.”
Siemonsma doesn’t mind the physical play at all. After all, the Sailors star picked up three yellow cards in the first three games of the season.
Against rival Corona del Mar last week, Draluck said that Siemonsma earned a yellow card in the very first minute. But it’s what she did later that people will remember.
She scored the game’s only goal in the 30th minute, taking the pass from teammate Kylee Seeber and shooting the ball over the keeper. The goal stood up in the Aliso Cup tournament pool-play game, and Newport Harbor had its second Battle of the Bay upset win over CdM in as many years.
The teams ended up finishing tied with Ayala in pool play, and CdM won a penalty kicks tiebreaker against Harbor two days later. But that didn’t take away the excitement from Siemonsma, who also scored a goal when the Sailors upset the Sea Kings, 3-2, last year.
“I was really nervous,” Siemonsma said. “Larry and everyone on our team kept telling us, ‘They’re the better team. We have to work harder.’ It was really nerve-wracking. Throughout the whole game, I was just trying to stay positive. Then the goal came, and it was exciting ... Anything can happen, even if you’re an underdog.”
Siemonsma, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week, is working on both improving her game and controlling her emotions. She has three goals this season for the Sailors (2-6), tied with senior forward Matilda Higman for the team lead. Draluck also credits senior midfielder Toni Holland, who has had a stellar start to the season, along with fellow senior co-captains Brooke Zachry and Melisa Camano on defense.
Of the players, Siemonsma is by far the most menacing physically.
“Her thing is, ‘Hey, give me the ball and I’m going to terrorize you,’” Draluck said.
Siemonsma, who plays club soccer for Newport Beach-based Slammers FC, knows how to make the most of her opportunities. One of Dave and Jody Siemonsma’s six children, she comes from an athletic family. Her older sisters Brianna and Brinley both played soccer for Harbor, and older brother Chance was the Newport football team’s starting tailback this season before tearing his ACL.
Siemonsma also has an 8-year-old brother, Kirin, who plays basketball. But it’s her twin brother, Chandler, who has pushed her the most growing up. He’s a goalie in the Los Angeles Galaxy Academy program.
“It gets very competitive at times, even though we’re two different positions,” Sianna Siemonsma said. “He always tries to help me out ... Sometimes I don’t like listening to him, but other times it’s helpful.”
What would help Siemonsma, would be having more Sailors help up top, but it’s a young team that got younger when senior forward Natalie Ward, a Notre Dame commit, tore her ACL last month during club season. Draluck said another promising forward, junior Kailynn Thomas, broke her fibula in the season opener against Mater Dei.
Siemonsma can sympathize. Last year at about this time, she fractured her ankle and missed about a month of the season. But, true to her nature, she hurried back for the last four games of the Sunset League campaign.
“I wanted to play high school so bad,” she said. “I just wanted the experience my freshman year. Our trainer [Veronica Beavor], she was like, ‘Not a good idea.’ And I just kept arguing, like, ‘No, you have to let me play.’ Then I talked to my doctor and I was like, ‘Please let me play.’”
It takes a lot to keep Sianna Siemonsma down.
“For me, it’s hard,” she said. “I get frustrated easily. I’m just a physical person, and sometimes I can go over the top when I’m frustrated. I just come off as very feisty, I guess.”
A bit of attitude suits the Sailors just fine.
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Sianna Siemonsma
Born: Dec. 1, 1998
Hometown: Newport Beach
Height: 5-foot-8
Sport: Soccer
Year: Sophomore
Coach: Larry Draluck
Favorite food: Macaroni and cheese
Favorite movie: “The Fault in Our Stars”
Favorite athletic moment: Scoring a goal against CdM her freshman year.
Week in review: Siemonsma scored the game’s only goal as Newport Harbor posted an upset 1-0 win over rival Corona del Mar in an Aliso Cup tournament pool-play game Dec. 11.
