By Marion Wood
Staff Writer
The girls’ soccer team had stopped cheering after their 11th goal against Blair High School. The Tigers demolished the Rams 11-0 in their first league game of the season, bringing their overall record to 4-3.
The Tigers started off with a strong goal by senior Emmy Keenan, who headed the ball in from a high corner kick. The team scored several more goals off of corner kicks and crosses from the sidelines. They also secured points from forward breakaways and midfield through-passes. The game was played mostly near the Blair goal, with obvious dominance by the Tiger offense. By the end of the first half, the score was 4-0.
“We played really well, especially with shooting,” senior Jenni Kause said. “We haven’t worked on it a lot, so it was nice to see a lot of shots on frame.”
Given the lead, the South Pas coach had room to experiment with new players and rotations. He subbed in a whole new roster of players in the second half, including some from the JV team.
This did not cut down on the number of goals scored, however. The Tigers continued their dominance, scoring 7 more goals in the second half. In the fourth quarter, the Tigers started to focus on possession rather than shooting. This lessened the score and helped the South Pas players develop their skills for the rest of league play.
The Blair game provided practice for the rest of league season. The Tigers identified some strengths and weak spots to prepare for their next game against La Canada.
“We really just want to focus on what we’ve been running in practice. We do want to cut down on the number of mistakes we make, especially in games,” senior Iman Hanif said. “That’s why it was good to have Blair as our first game, because the team had a chance to work on some of our problems.”
The team will play La Canada on Friday, January 14th, at 3:30 PM. La Canada placed first in the Rio Hondo League last year, but the Tigers are optimistic about the upcoming game.
“We know a few teams who have won against La Canada and we’ve beaten them in previous years, so we’re actually very positive going into the game,” Kause said.
