ATHLETE PROFILE: Mountain View High Girls Soccer Player Kirsten Belinsky

For Mountain View High senior Kirsten Belinsky, living life and playing soccer have always gone hand-in-hand. Except for a brief hiatus as a youth—the young player quit the game because she wasn’t able to use her hands on the field of play—Belinsky has been a natural to the game, using her savvy ball skills, deadly shot and shifty speed to give her opponents headaches.

Soccer rules only allow players to touch the ball with their hands on throw-ins and if they play goalie.

Those traits stated above came in handy during the 2010-11 season. Belinsky, along with Emily Andrew and Tavi Crum, formed a formidable trio that took the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division by storm.

After a 1-1-1 start in league, the Spartans went 6-0-4 the rest of the way. Held without a loss for nearly two months, it was clear the black-and-yellow clad bunch were contenders right from the start.

“We started out really strong,” Belinsky said. “We won the Palo Alto tournament and really were playing well.”

The only team to beat the Spartans in league was Los Gatos. It was that same bunch of ‘Cats that made Mt. View and head coach Simon Cook sweat out the league title race until the 11th hour.

Mt. View finished with a draw in three of its final five games, which opened the door for a late ditch Los Gatos surge.

A Gunn victory over Los Gatos saved the first place Spartans, who held off Los Gatos to claim the hard earned first place crown.

“It was crazy,” Belinsky said. “After we tied Palo Alto, we weren’t sure if we were going to win league. After 15 minutes, Simon found out that Gunn had beat Los Gatos and reassured us that we did it. It was a big relief.”

Belinksy was always a two-sport athlete during her time at Mt. View High.

She started with track her freshman year before moving on to cross country as a sophomore.

“After doing cross country, during my soccer games I wouldn’t get tired,” Belinsky said. “Track helped me more with my speed. It was able to get more out of my runs. Each sport helped me a little different on the field.”

Mt. View survived a wild shootout against league rival Monta Vista High-Cupertino in round one, then topped Woodside High 2-1 in the Central Coast Section Division I semifinals.

“This year was fun,” Coach Cook said. “We never really had any expectations or goals coming in. It started out well in the Winter Classic in Palo Alto. After that we just kept winning and before we knew it, the season was almost over. We survived against Monta Vista in PK’s and were able to beat Woodside in the semis which was good because they had knocked us out a few times over the past couple of years.”

St. Francis defeated Mountain View 2-1 in the CCS finals. The lone goal came off the foot off Belinsky.

Emily Andrew crossed to Elizabeth Brown, who alertly turned her back to the cage and tapped a quick pass to senior captain Kirsten Belinsky. Belinsky unloaded a shot high into net to breathe new life into the Spartans in the 53rd minute.

“I was lucky enough to be Kirsten’s coach for three years,” Cook said. “Throughout all three years she consistently played at a very high level both at practice and the games. I think the goals, assists and the improvement is a direct reflection of the effort she puts in on and off the field. She was an outstanding contributor and a big reason for our success.”

Belinsky scored 14 goals and handed out 11 assists during her successful final high school campaign.

In the fall, the forward will head back east and attend Brown University in Rhode Island.

She will play soccer for the Ivy League school as well.

“I really like their open curriculum,” Belinsky said. “Everyone is just really happy there. It was a small enough school and it was a chance for me to try something new.”

Belinsky plans to focus her studies around languages and international studies.

“It really was a great year,” Belinsky said. “The goal in the finals was one I won’t forget. I’m pretty sure I fell over from all the excitement. My teammates mobbed me.”