By Marion Wood
Staff Writer
The South Pasadena High School girls’ soccer team was swiftly defeated by Pasadena Polytechnic 4-0 Thursday night, bringing the team’s record to 1-3, a difficult start for the winter season.
The Tigers were playing with a depleted roster, with many of the upperclassmen out for the recent blood drive. In addition, several players have extensive injuries, including sophomore Faye Witherall, and seniors Alyssa Carlos, Jenni Kause, and Maddie Kause.
“We had a lot of girls out on injuries and other matters,” junior Olivia Chu said. “That affected our playing a lot. But we also just needed to improve with our passing and communication.”
The Tigers experienced difficulties right from the opening kick-off. The Poly team had better passes and overall control, and was able to easily infiltrate the South Pas defense. The first two goals were scored as a result of defensive miscommunication, regarding marks and positioning.
In the second half, both goals were scored on Poly corner kicks. These two scores brought the Panthers to a 4-0 lead, one the Tigers would find insurmountable. South Pas’ offense was shut down all game, and couldn’t muster up a goal. The game eventually came to an end at 4-0.
“From what I saw, we need to work on defending corner kicks because that’s how they scored two points. The varsity players haven’t practiced corner kicks yet, so the goals were scored just due to lack of practice,” sophomore Ellie Kutzer said. “But, as a whole, we played well and gave a great effort- now we just need to work on some plays to use in the game.”
The Tigers hope to improve for their next game on the road against San Gabriel on January 7th at 3:30 pm.
