The Acalanes girls Frosh/Soph team started strong in their third game of the season on Saturday, December 2nd, against Bishop O’Dowd at home. In the first 6 minutes, attacking-midfielder Caroline Tumilty (#15) shot from outside the box and scored the first goal. Then 23 minutes later, forward Svea Staino (#14) made a sweet turn to gain a yard of space and shot from inside the box to the left of the keeper, making the score 2-0 at the end of the first half. Lots of good passing and communication in the midfield kept the momentum going into the second half when, early on, winger Mila Ellis (#22) received a square pass and nailed a right-foot shot from the middle of the box. With not much time to go, Bishop O’Dowd scored their first goal from a scramble in the box. The defenders remained strong and held it down in the back to the end. The final score was 3-1 to the Dons, thanks to several key saves from fearless goalie Amelia Riley (#3) throughout.
Goals were harder to come by in the second game of the day at Northgate High School, but not without a lot of good chances from Acalanes, including a few shots that hit the post, and last-minute tackles from the Northgate defense. The first half was very competitive and ended 0-0. Acalanes held strong in the second half with excellent passing and vision from attacking-midfielder Riley Zirkel (#20) and winger Madison Bernstein (#23) and defense from center back Cassidy Smith (#8) who was everywhere. Just when everyone thought it was going to end in a draw, attacking-midfielder Caroline Tumity (#15) shot from just inside the box. The keeper barely managed to save it and forward Svea Staino (#14) was in perfect position to fire home the rebound. Final score was 1-0 to the Dons, making that 3 wins on the bounce.
The next chance to come cheer on the Frosh/Soph girls is 9am on Saturday December 9th at Piedmont.
Also, in case you haven’t heard, the home games are live-streamed by Acalanes Boosters and can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/@acalanesfootballstadium1200/streams.
