News
ENLARGE
ZEPHYR COVE, Nev. — One powerful Whittell shot nearly denied Truckee a 3A girls' soccer league opening victory on Thursday afternoon.
Senior Marlo Smith blasted in a 40-yard free kick with 26 minutes remaining, pulling the Warriors into an unlikely 1-1 tie with the three-time defending state champion Wolverines.
“That was a great free kick. She was hitting some nice balls all game long,” said Truckee coach Amy Valdivia.
But Truckee didn't flinch, scoring the deciding goal four minutes later and adding an insurance goal late in the match for a 3-1 victory.
“Right now the score is kind of irrelevant to us. We just want to work on our game and getting it better,” Valdivia said. “We just knew that we needed to keep playing our possession and working them up the field and making it simple.”
The Wolverines dominated the offensive flow of the match with their one-touch passing and spread out the Warriors' defense with wide spacing. But Truckee had finishing shots repeatedly hitting the post and crossbar en route to a 31-shot effort.
After Erica Sundale gave Truckee an early 1-0 lead on an outside shot, the Wolver ines were held scoreless for nearly 60 minutes.
Serena Dill, however, gave Truckee the lead for good, 2-1, heading in shot off a rebound deep in the Whittell box in the 60th minute. Truckee had several other chances to add to its lead before Shauna Day beat Whittell keeper Jillian Dauscher with a shot just inside the left post in the 77th minute.
Despite the defeat, Whittell first-year coach Patrick Kelly was pleased with his team's effort.
“Truckee is a wonderful team, and they played really well together. To see how quickly they passed the ball to one another was outstanding,” Kelly said. “For us to come out and be 1-1 with them with (20 minutes) to play, we'll take that, especially the first (league) game of the season.”
Kelly was especially content with the defensive effort.
“I'm really happy with the way our two outside backs Meredith (Grasso) and Taryn (Bourne) played, and if they play like that all year long, we'll be all right.”
Whittell, which suffered its first defeat in six games, played the final 11 minutes of the first half without sweeper Sammy Brumbach. Brumbach hit the turf hard while battling for possession, loosening a tooth and bloodying her lip. But the gritty Brumbach was back on the field for the start of the second half.
Truckee hosts Incline on Thursday at 3 p.m.
Senior Marlo Smith blasted in a 40-yard free kick with 26 minutes remaining, pulling the Warriors into an unlikely 1-1 tie with the three-time defending state champion Wolverines.
“That was a great free kick. She was hitting some nice balls all game long,” said Truckee coach Amy Valdivia.
But Truckee didn't flinch, scoring the deciding goal four minutes later and adding an insurance goal late in the match for a 3-1 victory.
“Right now the score is kind of irrelevant to us. We just want to work on our game and getting it better,” Valdivia said. “We just knew that we needed to keep playing our possession and working them up the field and making it simple.”
The Wolverines dominated the offensive flow of the match with their one-touch passing and spread out the Warriors' defense with wide spacing. But Truckee had finishing shots repeatedly hitting the post and crossbar en route to a 31-shot effort.
After Erica Sundale gave Truckee an early 1-0 lead on an outside shot, the Wolver ines were held scoreless for nearly 60 minutes.
Serena Dill, however, gave Truckee the lead for good, 2-1, heading in shot off a rebound deep in the Whittell box in the 60th minute. Truckee had several other chances to add to its lead before Shauna Day beat Whittell keeper Jillian Dauscher with a shot just inside the left post in the 77th minute.
Despite the defeat, Whittell first-year coach Patrick Kelly was pleased with his team's effort.
“Truckee is a wonderful team, and they played really well together. To see how quickly they passed the ball to one another was outstanding,” Kelly said. “For us to come out and be 1-1 with them with (20 minutes) to play, we'll take that, especially the first (league) game of the season.”
Kelly was especially content with the defensive effort.
“I'm really happy with the way our two outside backs Meredith (Grasso) and Taryn (Bourne) played, and if they play like that all year long, we'll be all right.”
Whittell, which suffered its first defeat in six games, played the final 11 minutes of the first half without sweeper Sammy Brumbach. Brumbach hit the turf hard while battling for possession, loosening a tooth and bloodying her lip. But the gritty Brumbach was back on the field for the start of the second half.
Truckee hosts Incline on Thursday at 3 p.m.
