On Wednesday, Jan. 25, in Foothill Tech’s girls’ soccer game against the Malibu Sharks, the Dragons “controlled the pace” and “possession of the game,” according to coach Jack Craig. Although neither team scored in the first half, as the sun set and the lights began to show brighter on the Ventura College field, goals started falling for the Dragons in the second half, and they took a 6-0 win over the Sharks
After a Malibu kick off, the first attempt on goal was by Gwynnie Redemann ‘18 off of a pass by Grace Combs ‘20 three minutes in.
Shortly afterwards, Redemann received the ball upfield and passed to Alyssa Elias ‘19, who sent the ball right back to Redemann, who took her second shot attempt of the night.
The effort on the defensive end matched that of the offense; Aubree Smith ‘19 hustled to cut off a Malibu player on the sideline before an attempt on goal could be made. When Malibu took their first shot, it was saved by goalkeeper Hailey Villano ‘19.
Also on the defensive end, Sierra Anderson ‘19 “made a lot of things happen,” according to Craig. Around the 18 minute mark, she, along with Katie Denger ‘20, Kathryn Brandi ‘18 and Serena Christie ‘18, fought to keep the Dragons in control of possession and got Combs and Elias each an attempt on goal.
With eight minutes left in the first half, Redemann crossed the ball to Elias, where she was caught in a jumble with the Malibu defense and endeavored to slide the ball into the goal. However, the Malibu goalie was able to secure the ball.
The half ended with a shot by Combs that hit the crossbar, followed by another Malibu attempt on goal. However, the ball was recovered by Brandi, leaving the half with no goals on the scoreboard
Craig said that at half time he discussed “getting the ball wide first when we were in the attack so that we could open up channels.” He believes that “the girls executed that.”
Entering the second half, the stalemate did not last long. Goalkeeper Kiera Fitzgerald ‘20 had two saves right off the bat and Brandi deflected a shot on goal. Denger, Anderson, Kami Kunes ‘19 and Elias moved the ball amongst themselves until they found Redemann, who dribbled through several defenders and shot, sending the ball right over the Malibu goalkeeper’s head into the net, putting the Dragons ahead 1-0 only five minutes into the second half.
According to Craig, “Gwynnie Redemann dominated up top.”
Only a minute later, Redemann crossed the ball to Combs inside the box, who finished the goal, increasing the Dragon lead to 2-0.
The Dragon’s momentum did not slow. At 29:00 min. the ball was passed from Angie Albarran ‘19, to Combs, to Redemann who shot and scored another goal.
Fitzgerald contributed another save and sailed the ball upfield for Denger to make a diagonal pass to Elias, who then scored, putting the Dragons ahead by four goals.
The Dragons scored yet again when Georgia Rowley ‘21 sent the ball into the box towards her sister, Muriel Rowley ‘20, who volleyed the ball into the net, scoring. Then with 10 minutes left in the game, the pair made another play in which Muriel Rowley shot and her sister got the rebound off the right crossbar, scoring a goal of her own and bringing the score to 6-0.
The sisters are members of the junior varsity team but competed with the varsity team during the Wednesday night game. Craig said that knowing that they can contribute to the team is “excellent.”
Craig thought the team did “a great job overall.” Specifically, he thought that Smith and Christie “held the defense together” while Denger and Albarran “did a phenomenal job” in the midfield.
“I think if they can continue to improve on what they did tonight, then they’re just gonna be tough to beat,” Craig said.
