The562’s high school soccer coverage for the 2025-26 season is sponsored by Long Beach Poly soccer alum Kennedy Justin.
The St. Anthony girls’ soccer team continues its growth under fourth-year coach Carina Perez. The Saints went 9-6-1 last year and finished second in the Camino Real League thanks to a 5-3 record, losing their playoff opener to Whittier Christian. This year’s Saints team will be younger after graduating nine senior starters.
“This year we’re pretty young, we only have one senior and the rest are underclassmen,” said Perez. “Our junior class is small but our freshman and sophomore classes are good and they’re looking strong. Last year we had a great season and the players coming back are looking to fill those big roles and help the incoming players understand how competitive it is on varsity. They want to keep growing.”
The Saints’ lone senior is captain Jaelyn Moreno, who’s been a four-year varsity contributor. Moreno has been an attacker but after noticing that the loss of the team’s center back was hampering them in workouts, she told Perez she’d volunteer to take that role.
“That’s who she is, that’s her leadership,” said Perez. “She brings that energy level and she’s talking and really taking on that role.”
Moreno said she’s ready to step into a leadership role this year for the young talent on the team, including her little sister, Jeweliana Moreno.
“We lost a lot of seniors and we have a smaller team now, but with our incoming freshman we have a good chance of going somewhere,” she said. “We’re talking to them really positively and getting them to not be scared to try new things, to help them grow. I want to be a good example to them.”
The other captains are Leila Meza, the team’s junior keeper, and Adanna Mjeme, who’s playing defense as well.
Meza is a feel-good story who tore her ACL last year right before the season started, and spent a year working to get back out there.
“She’s been training her but off, she’s strengthening her knee, and she talked to me about how much it sucked being on the bench last year and how excited she is to be back out there this year,” said Perez.
Mjeme is a junior who’s in a leadership role like Moreno. She started her freshman year as an attacker but moved to defense last year, and her energy and activity have bolstered the Saints’ back line since.
Other key contributors will include sophomores Paloma Toscano and Tatiana Callejas, who will be attacking up top along with Jeweliana Moreno–their alignment will be matchup-specific, but Perez expects them all to score plenty this year. Moreno and Toscano both scored 12 goals last year, and Callejas had the heroic goal that sent the team to the playoffs on a last-second league win.
Other contributors will include freshman Alice Landis, a volleyball/soccer player that Perez said will play in the middle.
Perez said it may take her young players some time to adjust to the varsity level but that she expects to be playing their best soccer when the season is getting towards the playoffs.
“As long as the girls keep attending practice and gelling, the biggest thing to me is communicating with each other, making sure they work towards what they want together,” said Perez. “Our returners are telling me, ‘Coach we got this, we’re going to keep building.’”
