Cardinal Newman girl's soccer team honored at San Jose Earthquakes game

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- The Cardinal Newman High School Girls Varsity Soccer team was honored at Avaya Stadium Saturday.

It was the perfect ending to a five month long roller coaster ride for the team.

They won the Northern California Division 3 Championship this month.

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Kenadie Geernaert is a freshman and plays on the team. She said, "We rose from the ashes of our school. We did it together, we all really wanted it and we all put our hearts into it."

Half of their school burned in October during the Tubbs Fire.

And six of the 20 players on the team lost their homes.

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"Soccer for me was an escape. Without soccer I don't know if I would have got through it," Lea Stockham said.

Getting through it wasn't easy. Their living situations were unstable, their school was in shambles, and they practiced anywhere they could, including in parking lots.

These are all reasons why the Earthquakes wanted to honor these girls.

"To think about kids practicing in the rain, on concrete or tar, driving hours to get to practice, it's incredible to think about," said Jed Metee with the San Jose Earthquakes.

With soccer season now officially over, it'll resume once again in October. And by then, Cardinal Newman will have a brand new soccer field.

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