The last time I wrote about an Acalanes team playing a Redwood team was last year’s JV football matchup. Not surprisingly, the theme for the article was trees. Although it would be “tree”-mendously easy to repeat the theme or get “sap”-py as the season is coming to a close, I think I will just jump right into the game.
Redwood, whose Varsity team is ranked #12 in NCS, came into the contest against the Dons (ranked #37) with a 7-1 record, including impressive wins over Tamalpais (ranked #6) and Marin Catholic (ranked #11). Despite the challenge, the girls came out and played one of their best games on the season in a highly competitive game.
In the first half, the team fought to a 0-0 draw. Although the Giants seemed to have a slight edge on time of possession, the Dons defense, anchored by goalkeeper Sophie Gold, managed to keep the ball out of the net. The Dons offense had some opportunities. Evelyn Lee took the first shot of the game, Julia Munter had a shot that went just wide, and Caroline Tumilty had a nice corner kick that the Dons weren’t able to convert.
In the second half, Redwood scored early on a corner kick that they were able to convert. The Dons had more chances to score, including a nice play where Cassidy Smith trapped the ball and shot, a shot from Caroline that sailed over the goal, a shot by Julia Munter on a nice feed from Elodie Jensen that bounced off the goalie’s hands, and a free kick by Dani Green from the 32 yard line that almost landed in the net.
A few things really stood out to me in this game. The first was the toughness of the girls. There were many times where they put their bodies on the line to stop the opponents, including Grace Colaco nearly getting tackled and Julia Lyons taking one for the team on a well struck ball. My shout-out today goes to Cassidy, who not only played great defense and had a shot on goal, but also did her best Brock Purdy impersonation on several tremendous throw-ins that went far downfield.
“Get to Know Coach”: Coach Alex’s favorite color is red
Please come and cheer on the team for the last game of the season on Tuesday at 5pm at home against Northgate