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Last season Benicia High School’s Riley Phipps elected to not play soccer for the Panthers, instead competing for his club soccer team in Diablo.
This year Phipps is back with the high school squad for his senior season, making opponents wish he never made the change.
“My friends Aidan Zambrano and Hayden Hubbard were telling me they were going to play for Benicia, so that’s basically all it took for me to come back,” Phipps said. “My senior year I just wanted to play with my friends one last time, win league and win the section.”
And apparently score a lot of goals. Phipps plays right back with his club team, but transitioned to play winger with Benicia. The reason?
“I like to score goals,” Phipps said, with a laugh. “That’s probably my favorite part about soccer.”
Phipps scored twice last week, once against Bethel and another in a 1-0 win over Rodriguez. The senior also had an assist in the victory over Bethel to improve the Panthers’ record to 5-2-1 and 1-0-1 in the Diablo Valley Athletic League.
Phipps is the Times-Herald Athlete of the Week.
His goal against Bethel came later in the first half to put the Panthers up 2-0.
“Parker (Curtis) crossed it to me and I just headed it in,” Phipps said.
The goal, coming the end of the first half, was the difference in a 1-0 win over Rodriguez.
“There was a long ball hit and it came to me and I had it trickle in on the left side,” Phipps said. “It felt good to get the goal and the win.”
Phipps said he loves scoring goals, but the biggest reason for the Panthers’ success lately has been the defense, which has put up four shutouts in a row. Nobody has scored on the Panthers since Miramonte added a goal in a 1-1 tie on Dec. 10. Benicia has only allowed five goals all season in eight games this year.
“The defense has great chemistry and is playing aggressive and strong,” Phipps said. “They’re playing great right now and have been a major point in our wins lately.”
Phipps said he wants to go to school at Gonzaga or Penn State, but would focus on his studies in business and marketing. We said he likely won’t try to walk on but may try to find a club team in the area. He’s played soccer since he was 5, so it would be difficult to give up the game completely.
“I just love the game,” Phipps said. “I love goal scoring, but it’s my teammates that keep me playing throughout the years. I’ve made a lot of friends over the years playing soccer.”
Jackson Habegger, Benicia boys soccer. Habegger scored two goals in a win over Bethel last week.
Ronald Rhymes Jr., St. Pat’s boys basketball. Rhymes Jr. hit a winning layup at the buzzer to defeat Newark Memorial. Rhymes scored 20 points in the contest.
Aidan Zambrano, Benicia boys soccer. Had two shutouts in a row, against Rodriguez and Bethel.
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