Abby Sanders (So.) intersects a pass from Northwood player. (V.Li)
By JEREMY KOO
Staff Writer
Girls Varsity Soccer was defeated by the Northwood Timberwolves 3-1 on January 11. University came into the game with a strong start after winning their first game of the season against Beckman on January 10 with an overall record of 10-3-1, but have now added another loss to their record. Northwood now stands at four wins, four losses and two ties in their own record.
The game started off slowly as the first thirty minutes resulted in a stalemate between the two teams. However, Northwood was the first to break the deadlock as they scored a goal late in the first half, ending 0-1 at halftime. The rain that had fallen earlier that day made it difficult for goalie Kerri Luttrell (Sr.) to predict the speed and direction of the ball, which made it difficult for her to stop Northwood from scoring.
As the second half kicked off, both teams fought to keep possession and score a goal until striker Emma Goolsby (Jr.) was able to break through the defense and score for UHS in the middle of the second half, tying the game 1-1. Revitalized, the Trojans continued to fight hard with midfielders Paige Metayer (Jr.) and Kiana Ghamari (Sr.) helping maintain possession in the middle of the field.
Once again, however, Northwood broke the deadlock with back to back goals late in the second half. The Timberwolves scored these late goals within the span of a minute, sealing the win for them. The game ended with a score of 1-3.
“Player for player, we outmatch Northwood and are a much deeper team.” Luttrell said. “Going into our next game, I think it’s about improving our mental game and our work rate so that we are playing as a team and winning those 50/50 balls.”
Despite this loss, the Girls Varsity team still has many games left to gain as many points as possible to get closer to winning the league title. Their next game is away at Corona del Mar on January 12.
