The girls’ junior varsity soccer team showed no mercy against Terra Linda High School, capping off the game with a 10-0 win on Saturday, Dec. 16. Strong offense and constant communication kept the ball in Redwood’s possession for most of the game and continued their success after a Dec. 9 victory against San Marin on Dec. 9.
Not only does this win benefit their 4-1 record, but it also helps the Giants stand out compared to other teams, according to sophomore Hana Lefferts.
“Games like this are good for us because we can get our goal differential up. Basically what that means is whenever there’s a tie, if two teams had the same number of wins and losses and ties, then whoever had the most goals scored gets the lead,” Lefferts said.
Within the first 10 minutes of the game, the Giants scored twice; the first goal happened when Terra Linda’s goalie nudged it into her own net, resulting in an own goal. The second goal came off a strong kick from sophomore Simi Kapila. Following these was a goal from sophomore Vanessa Comins and another from sophomore Reagan Carlson, making the score 4-0 by halftime.
According to Carlson, it was difficult to play with the strong winds, which pushed against the ball and forced it to go in a different direction than the kicker intended. She said the team had to take these conditions into account, keeping the direction of the wind in mind as they planned where to pass the ball.
The girls went into the second half chattering light-heartedly as they walked on to the field, but they did not let their guard down and continued to score. The first goal of the half was scored by sophomore Jenna Dahlin off a corner kick. Carlson then scored twice within the a 10-minute period. The eighth and ninth goals came from freshman Sofi Mincy, and in the last 10 minutes of the game, Dahlin scored again, resulting in a 10-0 win.
“We expected this to be a win honestly. Terra Linda is not one of the stronger teams … we created a lot more opportunities than them,” Lefferts said.
Many of Lefferts’ teammates agreed with her, saying that the Terra Linda game was not a surprise win for the team. Among them was freshman Camille Karner.
“I wasn’t expecting us to win 10-0. I was expecting [to win] probably around four or five [points],” said Karner.
According to Karner, Redwood was able to pass around Terra Linda’s players and move the ball upfield in order to shoot, due to strong and cohesive ball movement within the team.
“What we try to do when it is really windy is we try to keep [the ball] on the ground and pass around them and create gaps. We were forcing it a little bit, but I think we did a good job keeping it on the ground and passing it and creating opportunities,” Lefferts said.
Redwood girls’ junior varsity’s next game is at 3 p.m. on Jan. 3 at Novato High School.
