Lady Jaguars Soundly Defeat Knights 8-0
By Sofia Sotelo, SCCS
The Jaguar ladies continued to demonstrate their high quality play on the SCCS field during a hot Tuesday afternoon defeating Cambridge 8-0. The Knights never got a chance to even raise their hopes of winning.
After just five minutes of play, Jaguar forward Tania Landivar scored a goal. Two minutes after that, her playmate Giovanna Varalta scored another, putting the Jaguars in the lead 2-0. The third goal was an accidental goal made by a Knight after Fernanda Vaca Diez kicked a well-placed corner kick.
About 22 minutes after the start of the first half, Landivar scored her second goal for the Jaguars by outrunning the defense.
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The Jaguars dominated ball possession against the Knights.
Photo by Rocky Canelas. |
Realizing that her team was in complete dominance of the game, Jaguar goalie Karla Aguilera came out of her goal and started playing up to the midfield line. The last goal in the first half was again scored by Landivar, giving her a hat trick for the half, and the Jaguars a dominating 5-0 halftime lead. The second half of the game was a series of desultory back-and forth movements made by the Knights and the Jaguars. The action didn’t really get started until Vaca Diez scored her first goal for Jaguars by faking out a Knight defender, and threading the ball past the goalie. Two minutes later, Diez scored her second goal, this time out-dueling the goalie in a one-on-one situation.
The Jaguars started experimenting at this point to put a little more excitement into the game. All the players exchanged roles. Carla Limpias and Ana Peredo, the fundamental defensive players on the Jaguar team, were placed as forwards. Landivar played goalie, and goalie Karla Aguilera became a midfielder.
Ten minutes before the end of the game, Limpias was clearly thrilled when she scored a goal, with a hard high shot that passed through the fingers of the leaping Cambridge goalie.
The game thus ended 8-0 for the Jaguars, who remain undefeated and in first place in the league.
Griffins Edge Past Eagles 2-1
By Trevor Reed, SCCLC
The International Griffins survived a scary showdown against the Christian Learning Center Eagles on Tuesday at the Griffin home field. Having won their first game against the Eagles 5-0, the Griffins were expecting no challenge and ended up lucky to avoid an upset.
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The Eagles celebrate as they score the first goal of the game.
Photo by Jonatan Muñoz. |
The Griffins started off with a strong attack and many scoring opportunities. However, the Eagles were able to hold off the initial attacks with skillful goalkeeping and extraordinary defense from Eagle Bekah Kienzle. Many corner kicks were awarded to the Griffins, but they were unable to finish off any of the well-placed kicks for goals. Meanwhile, the Eagle offense was having difficulty advancing the ball into Griffin territory, and the few times they were able to, Griffin defenders quickly cleared the ball. The Griffins continued to attack the goal with multiple corner kicks, but they still had no goals to show for it. However, it was the Eagles who struck first as they broke away into Griffin territory with the ball. A shot was made, and the Griffin goalie caught it, but it quickly slipped out of her hands and was free for the taking. The goalie dived for the ball and swatted it right into the feet of Eagle Abby Phillips who kicked it into the left side of the goal, igniting the Eagle fan section with cheers. The Griffins did not back down, and they continued to dominate possession even though the Eagles were much more enthusiastic and determined after their goal. A Griffin pass in front of the Eagle goal saved the Griffins as it was lost in the confusion and then deflected into the Eagle goal. The first half ended soon after with the game tied 1-1.
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Natalia Davila scores off of a free kick to pull the Griffins
ahead 2-1.
Photo by Manuela Gonzalez. |
In the second half, the desperate Griffins continued to pressure the Eagle defense. One shot rocketed past the Eagle goal, slightly to the right of the post. However, the Eagles demonstrated good passing and took a few shots of their own. The Griffin goalie was able to block each of these shots, and the Eagles were forced once again to focus on defense. Suddenly, with the ball bouncing around near the Eagle goal, the referee blew his whistle and announced a foul, granting the Griffin team a penalty kick. A Griffin approached the ball and shot a hard kick off straight at the goal. Unfortunately for the Griffins, the aim was slightly off and the ball passed by the left goal post. The Eagle defense continued to have a hard time containing the Griffins, and this led to two inadvertent hand-balls. The Griffins shot the ball straight at the goal on both of these free kicks, but both shots missed. Finally, the Griffins were awarded a third free kick in a short amount of time, and they were able to place the ball in the Eagle goal, past the outstretched hands of the Eagle goalie. The referee soon blew the final whistle and the Griffins were relieved to have survived such a close game against the Eagles.
