Girls’ soccer (1-1-2) tied 1-1 in their recent home game against El Toro High on Dec. 5. Their next game will be at home against Dana Hills High on Dec. 19.
In the opening minutes, the Chargers pushed the Bulldogs’ defensive line back. However, center-backs and seniors Arden Sundaram and Malaika Fawzi cleared the ball, allowing the Bulldogs to maintain offensive possession for a majority of the half. Forward and senior Lily Nesland curved the ball from a corner kick, and midfielder and senior Jenna Verplancke took a 20-yard free kick, but both were stopped by the Chargers’ goalie.
“All it takes is one goal to bring us forward and give us more offensive momentum, and once that happens, we can get more chances to go,” Fawzi said. “Throughout, both the offense and defense were able to connect a lot better and find people and work with each other rather than playing individually.”
The Bulldogs’ defense tackled the Chargers’ forward early in the second half, swiftly passing the ball up the field to Verplancke, who then scored a goal from outside the penalty box. The game’s pace picked up, with the Bulldogs forcing the Chargers to push the ball out of play and advance it up the sidelines. They got multiple consecutive throw-ins and shots on goal but were stopped by the Chargers’ defense.
“Although there was pressure coming into the second half, I feel that I did well with communicating to the team,” goalie and freshman Keleila Brannen said. “I’ve been working on communicating, distribution and just trying to get the higher balls over my head because I am shorter, so I need to be able to reach the taller ones.”
With 11 minutes left in the game, a quick change in possession allowed the Chargers to bring the ball up the field for a corner kick and successful goal. Now tied, the teams fought for control of the ball in the remaining time, though both were unable to take the lead.
“As far as the performance on the field, our goal is to win the leadership battle, and I think we did today,” Stringer said. “I was really proud of the girls, taking what we did in training and focusing on that.”
Many players have moved up from the junior varsity team this year, and even with the new team dynamics, they are aiming for a longer league and CIF run this season, according to Fawzi.
“It’s still just a matter of us getting to know each other, and that’s it — just tendencies and habits and abilities and just an understanding about relationships on the field, as far as how we want to combine, how we want to enter the attacking third,” Stringer said. “I think that’s what we struggled with most today, just maintaining the attack, the continuity and sustaining it.”
