Senior midfielder Clarice Lee is second on Osan in goals with nine and the Cougars enter the Korea Cup postseason tournament as the No. 4 seed. (Ashley Angell/Special to Stripes)
The last time Osan won the Korea postseason girls soccer tournament title in 2017, Clarice Lee was a fourth-grader at Osan Elementary School.
Now a senior midfielder and one of the leading playmakers on the team, Lee and the Cougars enter this weekend’s Korea Cup tournament as one of the favorites, having won the Red Division regular-season crown.
Lee has spent virtually her entire life at Osan, has played for the Cougars throughout high school and been part of a continually improving Osan team. It went 5-8-4 two seasons ago, 5-3-2 in 2024 and 9-1 during the just-concluded league season.
“We were lucky to enter the season with more than 10 returning players and three returning coaches; it feels like we just picked up right where we left off,” Lee said. She was second on the Cougars with nine regular-season goals and fellow returner Camrynn Tuigamala had seven.
It hasn’t just been the veterans making noise for Osan, but three newcomers, freshmen Brianna Lowe (10 goals) and Susanna Walsh (three) and senior Ayden Hesseltine (five) who have lent strong scoring power to the Cougars.
“Brianna and Ayden have been playing for a bit, but Susie, this is her first year, she’s super athletic and has done amazing so far,” Lee said.
The Cougars are one of eight entries in the Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference Cup Tournament, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Gyeonggi Suwon, for teams with records above .500.
Osan is the fourth seed and Humphreys (6-3-1), which finished third in the top-tier Blue Division, is the third seed.
Daegu (3-7) will host the Plate Tournament for teams under .500. Humphreys, Osan and Daegu will play in the boys Plate Tournament at Chadwick International. The Blackhawks were fifth at 2-8 in the Blue Division, while the Cougars were fifth at 2-8 and the Warriors last at 0-10 in the Red.
Osan hopes the KAIAC Cup Tournament can provide preparation and serve as a learning experience for next month’s Far East Division II Tournament at Matthew C. Perry. The Cougars finished out of the trophy hunt last year.
“For sure, a reason to be nervous,” Lee said, adding that the top two Blue Division teams, Seoul Foreign and Chadwick, “are crazy good.”
“We’re lucky to have these tournaments,” Lee said. “(We) always improve so much from each one, to use (what we’ve learned) for the next one.”
The coming weekend also sees quite a bit of inter-district travel. Kubasaki’s baseball and Kadena’s softball teams head to Yokota for a weekend series with the host Panthers and visiting Robert D. Edgren.
Kubasaki’s boys soccer team travels to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni for matches against Zama, Perry and E.J. King.
Track and field season continues with meets at Edgren and Perry in Japan on Friday. Kubasaki hosts Kadena on Thursday and Friday, with sprinters Neil Kentish of the Panthers and the Dragons’ Ryan Hater looking to surpass 10.53 seconds in the 100.
Humphreys hosts its fourth meet of the season, and Blackhawks sophomore Cassandra Jarzabek continues her pursuit of the Pacific’s 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter records.
