by MARK CAUL
Lehman’s Dominique Jaquez (left) and Rebekah Johnson will become the school’s first-ever soccer players to play at the collegiate level. (Photo by Judy Cooper)
After going through one of the most tumultuous seasons the Lehman’s girls soccer program has ever seen this spring, two of the senior leaders of that squad now have a reason to smile.
Senior midfielder/forward Dominique Jaquez and senior forward Rebekah Johnson recently became the first college signees from Nauri Garcia’s four-year program by signing letters of intent with area colleges.
Jaquez, the school’s all-time leading scorer and team captain, will continue her career at St. Mary’s and major in biology.
“It feels really good to be able to continue my soccer career at such a great school,” Jaquez said. “I am looking forward to taking the next step in my life both academically and athletically.”
Although she was excited about the opportunity to be able to play collegiate after shattering nearly every school record in the process, Jaquez cites a couple of lingering injuries coupled with the untimely death of close friend and ex-teammate Audrey Gaytan earlier in the year, as the low points of her senior season.
Gaytan, who died at 19 in January, was set to become the school’s first girls soccer signee last spring after completing her senior season but instead opted to forego a chance to play collegiate soccer to concentrate on a career in medicine.
“It was really difficult to believe Audrey wasn’t going to be around anymore,” said Jaquez. “It really took its toll on me and I don’t think I really recovered from her death during the season. Not only that, some of the injuries I had during the early part of the season never allowed me to be as explosive as I had been over the last few seasons.”
Jaquez was still a unanimous first team all-district selection in each her last two seasons and was among the leaders in scoring her junior campaign.
Jaquez also participated in the TASCO all-star game earlier in the month, which is a showcase event for talented high school seniors.
Johnson, who will be joining the NAIA power Howard Payne in the fall, blossomed as a star in her senior season and became one of the team’s top scorers in the process.
“I just worked a lot harder during the summer and made sure that I finished my career here at Lehman with a bang,” said Johnson. “The fact that I’m going to be playing college soccer just shows that my hard work paid off.”
Garcia is hoping that the two signings will help solidify the positive direction his program is headed.
“Domino and Rebekah both worked extremely hard this season and they were great leaders for this team,” Garcia said. “It was unfortunate that we had those injuries early on because we would have found a way to win some of those games that we lost.”
The highlight of Lehman’s season was a 0-0 tie with Hays that marked the first time the Lady Lobos weren’t beaten by their chief rival.
Both Jaquez and Johnson played major roles defensively in that contest.
Although the pair will be forever linked as the first-ever girl’s soccer college signees, they each will depart having left their own legacy as Lady Lobos.
Johnson, who became one of the team’s best defenders this season, has proven that hard work usually produces positive results.
“I hope that all the girls coming up behind me can follow my example - that if you work harder than the next person you can accomplish your goals.” Johnson said. “I may not have been the most talented person on the team but I worked as hard as anybody on the field.”
Jaquez will be etched in Lobo lore as the best all-around girls soccer player the school has seen to date.
“I just want to be remembered as a hard worker who came out and competed hard every single game,” said Jaquez. “We didn’t accomplish our goal of making the playoffs as seniors, but I hope we have changed how most people think about Lehman soccer.”
