On the late night of Dec. 12, 2024, the Foothill Tech High School (Foothill Tech) girls soccer team went up against Grace Brethren High School (Grace Brethren) in a close battle at the Ventura College Stadium. The competition between the two teams ended in a 0-0 tie after two five-minute overtime rounds.
Grace Brethren immediately put up a fight against the Dragons after they received the kick off and made an attempt on goal which was saved by Foothill Tech’s goalkeeper Addi Fallon ’25. The save however, gave Grace Brethren a corner kick which Grace Brethren was not successful in putting away.
Despite Grace Bethren’s speed, Alinah Rodriguez ’27 put a ball out for Siena Meter ’26 to be in scoring position where she unfortunately missed the goal. Grace Bethren fought back instantly with another attempted shot on goal which Sydney Schlegel ’25 blocked before it could reach the goal.
In one of Grace Bethren’s attempts to make a move, Lyla Huff ’27 snagged the ball and ran it down the field with an attempted shot, but missed the goal. Following a defensive battle by Grace Brethren, they won the ball back, pushing it onto the Dragon’s offensive half. Despite these efforts, the two teams went into halftime with the score tied 0-0.
“Our communication was a lot better this game … that was really big for us because we haven’t had that all season,” responded one of Foothill Tech’s captains, Fallon, when asked what stood out this game.
Mikayla Pecchi ’25 and Belen Buxton ’27 ran the defense as the Dragon’s prevented Grace Brethren from scoring. Later in the half, Rodriguez gained control of the ball and sent a pass to Huff, however, Huff was offside, giving possession of the ball back to Grace Brethren. Afterwards, Grace Brethren was given a kick on goal as a result of a foul by the Dragons, but were unsuccessful in finding the net.
Eventually, the Dragons put themselves in scoring position but lost the ball in a pass with too much touch on it. Grace Brethren then gained control of the field, connecting passes all around the Dragon’s defense and allowing them a shot on goal that Fallon saved.
Elizabeth Geib ’28 ran the ball down the line, juking out three of Grace Brethren players before they gained the ball back on an attempted pass by the Dragons. Geib and Rodriguez worked together connecting passes to put their team into scoring position, but Grace Bethren’s goalkeeper beat Foothill Tech to the ball.
“We can always improve on our touch, our connections … and the attack, we can always work on threatening their goal a little bit more” stated head coach Kevin Fitzgerald when questioned on what he thinks the girls could have improved on that could have changed the outcome of the game.
In the final minutes of the second half, Grace Brethren had final attempt to score, but had offsides called on them when they were in good positioning to the goal. Buxton supported Fallon in the goal by blocking shots and pushing the ball out. Grace Brethren got one last attempted shot on goal that was saved by Fallon before time ran out.
Over-time was called with two five-minute rounds to finish out the game. Rodriguez puts her team up the line to be in scoring position but the shot by Huff was saved by Grace Bethren’s goalkeeper. The two teams battled it out in mid-field, constantly pushing the ball out. Grace Brethren had attempted to cross the ball to another player to take a shot but had missed. Grace Brethren put in all they had to be able to clutch the game but Shea Stevenson ’26 blocked an attempted goal by Grace Brethren. Foothill Tech defended all passes by Grace Brethren to protect their goal from getting shot at. The Dragons got one last shot on goal which was saved by Grace Brethren’s goalkeeper. The nail-biting battle from both teams resulted in a 0-0 score to end the game.
The Dragon’s next game will take place on Dec. 16, 2024, at the Ventura College Stadium versus The Thacher School where they hope to dominate on their home field.
