Girls’ soccer defeats Bassett 4-1 to attain first victory of the season

By Vaughn Huelsman

Staff Writer

The girls’ varsity soccer team dominated the Bassett High School Olympians; the Tigers won with a score of 4-1 in their fifth preseason game on Friday, December 11 at home. The squad set the tone of the game with an early goal and finished decisively, giving the team its first win and improving the overall record to 1-3-1.

The Tigers controlled the tempo and nearly all of the possessions in the first half of the game. Freshman forward Uma Hornish scored the first goal for South Pasadena as she worked around several Bassett defenders to put the team up one within the first few minutes. After the goal, the Tiger offense kept the ball in the front field, with junior midfielder Megan Wong and sophomore forward Harper Fox taking multiple close attempts. The second goal of the game came in the form of a cross from Hornish to freshman forward Samantha Abelson who then lightly placed the ball into the back of the net. South Pasadena dictated the course of the half, putting pressure on the offensive end before finally ending the half 2-0.

South Pasadena continued its momentum going into second half, refusing to slacken the pressure on the front end of the field. The Tigers fired more shots on the goal, one of which was saved by the Olympian goalkeeper, but Hornish forced the ball out her hands. She then made a pass to Abelson, who kicked the ball in for her second goal of the game. South Pasadena continued to press the ball, but several mistakes on the defensive end allowed for one goal for the Olympians. One of the Bassett players took a long shot and was blocked, but her teammate regained possession and scored on the open goal. After the team conceded the one point, the players returned to the offensive end immediately to attack. Junior defender Riley Segal took long direct kick past a wall of defenders, but narrowly hit the bar. Shortly after, Hornish again dribbled the ball several Bassett players and scored her second and the Tigers’ fourth and final goal. The team’s substantial lead allowed for the coach to then substitute multiple reserves to finish out the remaining minutes of the game.

“We played well together and improved a lot over the past few games,” Hornish said. “We need to better our defensive pressure and communication in certain circumstances.”

The team hopes to continue improving in preparation for the league season starting in January. The Tigers’ next game will be on Tuesday, December 15 at Schurr High School.