On the cold night of Nov. 30, 2023, the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) girls’ soccer team faced off against Nordhoff High School (Nordhoff) at the Ventura College (VC) Sportsplex. For the first match of the season, Foothill Tech came out strong, destroying Nordhoff in front of the Dragon’s home crowd 6-0.
The first half began with progression up the field with forward passing from Shayna Dearman-So ‘24, followed by movement to the goal from Sienna Meter ‘26; however no goals were scored. This was ended when Kimberly Lotz ‘24 scored the first goal of the game as the ball was sent into the box by Eva Goncalves ‘25, and Lotz sunk it into the corner of the net.
This was just the beginning as shortly after a corner kick was taken by Clarie Hadley ‘24 and, after a tussle in the box for possession, Maddie Wicks ‘26 gained control of the ball and found the back of the net, ending the half with the Dragons up 2-0.
Lotz spoke about the game, saying, “Coming in the first five minutes I scored the first goal of the season so I am pretty proud and I think the team did really good.”
Entering the second half, strong defense from the Dragons kept the ball in their offensive foot and helped them maintain possession. This allowed for many shots on goal, with Taylor Liston ‘24 capitalizing on the team’s control and skillfully earning the third goal of the night. Not long after, Hadley followed this with another goal off of a corner kick, pushing the team’s lead to a commanding 4-0.
With ample time left in the half, the Dragons were not finished as another goal was scored by Lupita Gonzalez ‘24, assisted by Hadley. This was not the end of the Dragons scoring though, as Goncalves found the net to put the Dragons up 6-0 directly after. Aggressive forward movement paired with solid defense left Foothill Tech at 6-0 at the end of the match.
Goncalves spoke on the team’s performance, commenting that, “I think we did good, it was our first game so there are definitely some things we need to work out but I am excited for this season.”
Foothill Tech’s goalkeeper, Addi Fallon ‘25, was asked about what the team would have improved on and said, “I think we just need to communicate a lot more and be confident in our teammates.”
The team hopes to continue their forward momentum in their next match against Channel Islands High School (Channel Islands) on Tues, Dec. 5, at Channel Islands.
