AWESOME KICK -- Jaguar Aldana Roda's second half free kick zipped into the top of the goal. Jonatan Muñoz, International But at last Jaguars are challenged
Cooperative defeats International, 5-3
The Cooperative girls varsity soccer team finally defeated a pesky and recalcitrant International team 5-3 Tuesday at the International field.
Still, the Griffin girls could cite a number of accomplishments: *First team this season to still be tied with the girl Jaguars in the second half.
* First team to score more than one goal on the Jaguars.
* First team to hold the Jaguars to less than six goals.
In short, first team to give Cooperative a hard time this year.
The score was 2-2 at halftime. Tania Landivar scored twice for the Jaguars in the opening stanza, but her goals had been answered by Griffins Matilda Gamarra, and Melisa Roca. Roca scored on a penalty shot after being knocked down in the penalty box.
The tie held for a short period after play resumed, lasting until Aldana Roca was awarded a free kick. She unleashed an awesome kick that everyone thought was going way over the goal, but which seemed to suddenly dip down in "bend 'em like Beckham "-style, and zipped into the top of the goal, giving the Jaguars back the lead.
Landivar scored again a short while later, giving her three goals for the game. (The speedy and artful Jaguar eighth grader also played the entire JV game, scoring six goals in it, giving her nine for the day, which is undoubtedly some sort of one-player, one-day scoring record for the League and, quite possibly, the nation.)
Griffin Maria Gutierrez narrowed the gap to 4-3, but then Roda scored her second goal of the day to make the final 5-3.
Griffin Maria Gutierrez narrowed the gap to 4-3, but then Roda scored her second goal of the day to make the final 5-3.
Both teams had numerous other scoring opportunities.
Cambridge wins shootout 1-0
Even match: Knights, Eagles tie 1-1
The Cambridge and Christian Learning varsity girls soccer teams played to a 1-1 tie Tuesday in a game played on the Cooperative field because of the unavailabilty of fields at the two schools.
Cambridge won the shootout for the extra point in the rankings 1-0.
Senior speedster Moira Vaca scored the Knights' goal, while ex-goalie Whitney Belovicz did the same for the Eagles. Belovicz, also a senior, had been the Eagle goalie until she dislocated her thumb earlier in the season.
She almost had a second goal in the first half, when she got the ball away from the Cambridge goalie on the right side of the net, and fired a shot that hit the inside of the far post. On the rebound, a teammate missed an open net, shooting wide, to the dismay of the Christian Learning partisans present.
Cambridge also had its opportunities. Indeed, Eagle coach Larry Lindahl, while praising the game overall as "well played on both sides," said that Cambridge "took better advantage of its opportunities than we did."
Both teams got outstanding play from their goalies. Raquel Lopez was steady in the nets for the Lady Knights (except perhaps for the early encounter with Belovicz), while Tabitha Malloy fielded many balls for the Eagles. She had been pressed into goalie service because of injuries to two presecessors -- Belovicz and Alejandra Valencia.
Both teams seemed to play the game in high good spirits. Lindahl said afterward that he felt the team, which included many new players, was achieving his goals of "teaching the game and having fun."
With the bonus point from the shootout, Cambridge takes second place in the standings, the highest it has been in at least two years. Both Christian Learning and Cambridge must still play International, which has recently appeared to be in a resurgent phase.
