News
ENLARGE
The Incline Highlander girls soccer team hosted first-year Northern 3A member South Tahoe this past Thursday in both teams league openers — and the game did not disappoint.
This is the first year that the 4A powerhouse Vikings were moved to the realigned Northern 3A Sierra League. For the Highlanders, it was to be a building year after losing four All-State seniors from last year's squad, leaving a team heavy with freshmen and sophomores.
The game showed that this year's Highlanders are anything but building for the future, and that they will hold their own against any 3A team.
The Vikings were on the board first at the 5-minute mark with a shot by senior Ali Palacios from the left side of center that caught the Highlander defense stacked too far right.
“The girls were nervous at the start of the game,” said Incline head coach John Paganelli. “After all, we had never played them before and knew they were a very good team with speed up top.”
After the first goal, the game became a defense gem by both teams, but different in their development. The Highlanders kept denying shots on goal with a defensive wall that the Vikings could not penetrate. When the Vikings were able to get a shot off, freshman goalkeeper Sarah Wright came up big.
“Sarah was amazing today,” Paganelli said. “At the beginning of tryouts we did not know who could replace last year's All-State goalie, Sasha (Severance). After today's performance, we have our goalie.”
There was one combination of saves by Wright that left everyone on the field and in the stands in awe. After stopping a shot from the left side and while lying prone on the ground, the Vikings got another chance at a goal on the same ball that sailed over the back of Wright. While still prone, and with a kick off the heel of her foot, followed by a quick stand to her feet, followed by a dive back onto the ball, Wright kept the Vikings from scoring in succession.
“It was the most amazing combination of saves I think I have ever seen,” said Incline assistance coach Mike Pennacchio.
On the other side of the ball, Highlander junior striker Tori O'Connor and freshman striker Misha Gehring were able to penetrate the Viking defense with breakaway runs during the game only to have their angle reduced by the Viking goalie, who also played a standout game in keeping the Highlanders out of the goal.
With 9 minutes left in the game, Palacios was able to score a second and final goal for South Tahoe.
“Although we lost the game, I was really proud of how the girls kept going after the Viking defense,” Paganelli said. “They never gave up; they held their own on defense, and kept pressing the goal on offense. We have a team to be reckoned with.”
South Tahoe head coach Chris DeLeon acknowledged that the Vikings will not be able to overlook any of the upper-echelon teams in their new league.
“It's going to be competitive,” DeLeon said. “There are no issues about that. These teams are pretty even. It's going to be a good year. I don't think we'll see any blowouts by any means.”
— This article was e-mailed to Sports Editor Sylas Wright at swright@sierrasun.com.
This is the first year that the 4A powerhouse Vikings were moved to the realigned Northern 3A Sierra League. For the Highlanders, it was to be a building year after losing four All-State seniors from last year's squad, leaving a team heavy with freshmen and sophomores.
The game showed that this year's Highlanders are anything but building for the future, and that they will hold their own against any 3A team.
The Vikings were on the board first at the 5-minute mark with a shot by senior Ali Palacios from the left side of center that caught the Highlander defense stacked too far right.
“The girls were nervous at the start of the game,” said Incline head coach John Paganelli. “After all, we had never played them before and knew they were a very good team with speed up top.”
After the first goal, the game became a defense gem by both teams, but different in their development. The Highlanders kept denying shots on goal with a defensive wall that the Vikings could not penetrate. When the Vikings were able to get a shot off, freshman goalkeeper Sarah Wright came up big.
“Sarah was amazing today,” Paganelli said. “At the beginning of tryouts we did not know who could replace last year's All-State goalie, Sasha (Severance). After today's performance, we have our goalie.”
There was one combination of saves by Wright that left everyone on the field and in the stands in awe. After stopping a shot from the left side and while lying prone on the ground, the Vikings got another chance at a goal on the same ball that sailed over the back of Wright. While still prone, and with a kick off the heel of her foot, followed by a quick stand to her feet, followed by a dive back onto the ball, Wright kept the Vikings from scoring in succession.
“It was the most amazing combination of saves I think I have ever seen,” said Incline assistance coach Mike Pennacchio.
On the other side of the ball, Highlander junior striker Tori O'Connor and freshman striker Misha Gehring were able to penetrate the Viking defense with breakaway runs during the game only to have their angle reduced by the Viking goalie, who also played a standout game in keeping the Highlanders out of the goal.
With 9 minutes left in the game, Palacios was able to score a second and final goal for South Tahoe.
“Although we lost the game, I was really proud of how the girls kept going after the Viking defense,” Paganelli said. “They never gave up; they held their own on defense, and kept pressing the goal on offense. We have a team to be reckoned with.”
South Tahoe head coach Chris DeLeon acknowledged that the Vikings will not be able to overlook any of the upper-echelon teams in their new league.
“It's going to be competitive,” DeLeon said. “There are no issues about that. These teams are pretty even. It's going to be a good year. I don't think we'll see any blowouts by any means.”
— This article was e-mailed to Sports Editor Sylas Wright at swright@sierrasun.com.
UP NEXT
The Highlanders play a league game at three-time defending 3A state champ Truckee on Thursday, Sept. 9 at 3 p.m.
|
