When Redwood’s annual game night is held this Friday, it will be more than just a chance for the varsity soccer and volleyball teams to show off for their peers, but will instead have broader implications for the overall MCAL competition.
For the soccer team, currently sitting in third place in MCAL at 7-2-3 (6-1-2 MCAL), it will be a chance to avenge an earlier tie to Drake about which many players are still bitter.
In that game, Drake scored in the closing moments to steal away what Redwood thought was a sure win. A win versus Drake at home on Friday would move the team closer to second place behind league leader Tam and second place Terra Linda, as well as distance Redwood from a fourth place Marin Catholic team that is hot on their heals.
The varsity volleyball team is in a similar situation. Their game against Novato offers the chance to pull into a tie for second place behind Branson in the MCAL standings. Novato currently sits at 6-1, just a half game above the 5-1 Giants.
The boys’ varsity soccer team has been scoring frequently in their recent winning streak.
With a 5-1 win over TL and Tuesday’s 4-0 victory over San Marin, varsity soccer has reason to be confident of their power in the MCAL race.
Despite losing 3-1 to first place Tam earlier in the season, Redwood dominated a Terra Linda team that many expected to compete with Tam for the MCAL title. TL lost to Tam in penalty kicks in preseason play.
According to senior Jordan Finci, for Friday’s game, the focus will be on overcoming Drake’s ball control offense in which they keep large numbers of players on defense and try to score on a fast break.
“I expect them to play a defensive kind of game,” Finci said. “Keep a lot of players back and prevent us from scoring because that’s all we have been doing lately.”
Junior Sasha Boussina has led the scoring barrage. He had four goals in the Giants’ last two games versus TL and San Marin and will be looking to score early and often against Drake.
A strong showing by Boussina and Redwood would prime the soccer team for revenge against Tam when the teams meet on Oct. 10 in a battle between two of the top MCAL teams.
Unlike soccer, which has been up and down the past couple years, the volleyball team has long been in the upper ranks of the MCAL.
This year is no different.
With just two seniors on the team, they rely on a core of juniors that last year guided the Giants to a second place finish in the MCAL tournament.
Although a successful year by most standards, junior Hannah Gerson said that the team was unhappy with last year’s MCAL championship game loss, but has been able to turn a negative into a positive.
“Losing MCAL’s last year is motivation and has lit a fire under us,” she said.
In Novato, they face a surprising success story. Although the team was bounced from the MCAL tournament with a first round loss last year, Novato is currently 14-4 and coming off a win over Marin Catholic on Wednesday.
“(Novato) is super motivated to beat us,” Gerson said. “We need to come in with a lot of focus and just know they are a lot tougher than last year.”
Never considered an elite Marin volleyball school, the Hornets suffered its sole MCAL loss 3-0 at the hands of MCAL tournament defending champion Branson, a team that also handily beat Redwood.
Soccer starts at 4 p.m. on the Redwood turf, with volleyball following it in the main gym at 6.
