The Matadors started off the game with an early lead as the forwards focused on the LOHS goal. After some quick passes, an MVHS forward shot the ball shot into the goal, barely missing the goalie’s glove. However, just before the shot was taken, one of the referees had blown his whistle calling for a short corner. A few minutes later, the same situation happened. Frustrated, MVHS head coach Denise Eachus called out to one of the referees, arguing that she disagreed with the calls they were making and that MVHS would “only continue playing under protest” This meant she interpreted his decision as violating the rules. The referee attempted to calm the situation, telling her that playing under protest was not allowed in high school, but that he would make a note of it in the game log.
“[The penalties] pretty much motivated us even more to get that goal in because we [knew we could], already having gotten [in] two,” junior Hannah Bagley said. “It just fired us up even more.”
After the second goal was called back, LOHS cleared the ball in order to get the ball away from LOHS’ goal, but senior Katie Byrne intercepted the pass and sent it to the forwards. With this new opportunity, sophomore Janaye Saukas received the ball near the goal on the left side of the field, and connected a pass to junior Sarah Im who quickly shot it past the LOHS goalie for MVHS’ first goal of the game.
LOHS would quickly answer back with a goal of their own to tie the game at 1-1.
“I think we could’ve had better free hits and worked more on getting it wide on those [hits] instead of trying to go through them,” junior Amelia Strom said.
For much of the game, MVHS maintained the possession of the ball, which has been a trend in their three-game winning streak. While the Matadors forced LOHS players towards the sidelines, taking away many scoring opportunities, MVHS also had difficulties with maintaining good spacing in their defense.
After a clear from the defense, the midfielders drove the ball up the middle. The Matadors attacked as they passed back and forth leading to Byrne with the ball and racked up her first assist of the game when sophomore Arushi Agarawala scored the second goal of the game. The Matadors walked off the field with a 2-1 lead by the end of the first half.
“I think we were doing a lot of cuts because we realized that we had the speed advantage over them … especially on turf because their home field is on grass,” Strom said.
Both teams’ offenses slowed down in the second half and more equal possession prevented either team from holding the momentum. However, as MVHS fought to maintain the lead, they were rewarded with a goal. Senior Holly Matsunami scored the last goal of the game with a few minutes remaining on the clock.
“I think we did really well; we had a lot of talk and passes because we’ve been really working on that during practices,” said Bagley.
After two reversed goals in the first half, the game concluded with MVHS winning 3-1 against LOHS.
The Matadors’ next home game will be against Del Mar High School on Oct. 26th.
