WHAT A GAME OUR LADY EAGLES PLAYED YESTERDAY! The lady Eagles played Modesto JC; the number 2 seed yesterday. Modesto (MJC) came into the game with an overall record of 19-1-1 and for many weeks was ranked number one in California. The Lady Eagles were the number 7 seed and were 19-3 overall going into yesterday’s contest. The Eagles played a 120 minute game three days prior and lost a huge cog to their backline in Adriana Naranjo (Foot Injury). The lady Eagles went into the game with only 3 subs due to injuries throughout the season. What the Eagles lacked in numbers, they more than tripled with effort, energy, and 100% commitment to competing with a Modesto team that had 20 plus players at their disposal! The Eagles game plan was to sit back and absorb MJC’s pressure and look to counter! We could not press high up the field and press like we did early in the season due to the lack of numbers. The ladies stuck to the game plan and were flawless in their execution! The first half saw the Eagles hit the target one time on a set piece taken by Phoebe Hendry. While Modesto attacked our goal often they did not muster too many direct scoring chances in the first half. They were most threatening on their corner kicks, but the lady Eagles headed by goal keeper Adri Borjon snuffed out any major threats! The first half ended tied at 0-0 and the coaches were thrilled with the teams’ effort! Second half started strong for the Eagles! The Eagles took the same approach as they did the first half and early on the Eagles won the ball at midfield and immediately countered and got in behind MJC’s Back Line! Vyanca Santana Was headed to goal around the 55th minute and took a nice shot from about 18 yards out as the Modesto Defenders were recovering and closing in on her. The shot beat the MJC Goal Keeper but the shot was just wide! Modesto kept coming at us but the Eagles held strong! The Eagles were led by GK Adri Borjon, right back Taylor Weibke, left back Toree Iniguez, and Centerbacks Hailey Young and Kenzie Rice! In the 86th minute the Eagles broke towards MJCs goal, this time Phoebe Hendry was on the break. Phoebe saw the keeper off her line and she hit a 35 yard shot! It seemed like everything slowed way down and as the ball traveled through the air. Coach Huff mumbled to Coach Munoz on the sidelines We gotem. The shot beat the keeper and as we were about to celebrate, we heard the DREADED DONG! OFF THE CROSS BAR!!!!!!! 90 minutes were up and now came two 15 minute overtime periods. It’s not golden goal we play out the 30 minutes! At this time in the game were down to ONE sub! We lost Vyanca Santana mid-way through the 2nd half and we lost Anna Sanchez early in O.T. Coaches were confident we would hold. MJC had a couple of good looks in the second half but for the most part we defended VERY well and most opportunities were from afar. The ladies were exhausted but they dug DEEP into their RESERVES! They held strong and we were positive we would head to a penalty kick shoot-out! Unfortunately in the 118th minute we committed a foul close to the corner flag to the left side of our goal. The girls were awesome but tired and we were over zealous with the MJC attacker and ran through the back side of her while she was pinned facing the side line. It was like a corner kick and the ball was played in. Our Stellar goal keeper Adri Borjon had a beat on the under hit cross which she greeted a few yards beyond the near post. Unfortunately the ball popped free from her grip and fell in front of goal. An MJC player lunged and hit the ball off the cross bar. It became a MAD scramble in front of goal where we attempted to clear a ball that was surrounded by 8 to 9 players. There was nowhere to lift the ball out of danger. From the coaches view we could not see the ball, as if play turned into a rugby scrum! The center official blew his whistle and my initial thought was he called a foul and we were given a free kick. As the players cleared I saw he was pointing to the penalty spot! He called a hand ball amongst the scrum! Tough call to make SOOOOO late in the game! MJC stepped up and converted the PK. Two minutes later our season came to an end. Eagles lost 1-0 in the 118th minute Tough way to go out but as we told the young ladies; “they can step off this field with heads held high! The coaches, Mendocino College, and our community could not have asked more from their incredible performance! We are all so proud of them and they LITERALLY left everything on the field!” I want to thank EVERYONE for their strong support and I especially want thank these young ladies for being so resilient and strong throughout this season! Our sophomores: Adri Bojon (Willits), Taylor Weibke (Spark, NV), Hailey Young (Ukiah), Maci Feliz (Bakersfield), Ali Olea (Ukiah), Toree Iniguez (Lathrop), Phoebe Hendry (Ukiah), Kenzie Rice (Fortuna), Adrianna Naranjo (Albuquerque, NM), Briceida Jacobo (Esparto), and Haley Ryals (Santa Rosa). These ladies have been fantastic and we are SOOOO GRATEFUL for all their hard work and dedication on and off the field! Most of these young ladies will move on and continue their academic/athletic careers. We will keep everyone posted on any developing news! Have a safe and happy holiday with family and friends! Coach Huff .
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 19:52:38 +0000
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