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Well that’s one way to get back in the win column.
A week after the Incline High School varsity girls soccer team dropped its first match at Dayton — and four days after falling 7-0 at home against rival Truckee — the Lady Highlanders enjoyed a 9-1 thumping Saturday at Battle Mountain High School, improving its record this season to 4-2.
The win was a much-needed one, said IHS assistant coach Mike Pennacchio, as the team prepares for Thursday’s match at rival North Tahoe High School.
“We really needed this game to carry us into Thursday’s game against North Tahoe,” said Pennacchio, who coached the Lady Highlanders Saturday because coach John Paganelli was visiting his new granddaughter in San Francisco. “We needed the girls to get accustomed to the changes in the lineup and formation.”
Thursday’s match takes place at 3 p.m. in Tahoe City.
There was no looking ahead to that match on Saturday, however, as the girls came out strong right from the start, with IHS junior Kelli Cherry scoring a breakaway goal just 48 seconds into the match to put Incline up 1-0.
Getting out to a strong start is something the girls have struggled with this season, Pennacchio said.
“The coaching staff decided at the beginning of the week that we need to place more pressure on the offensive end,” Pennacchio said. “We brought Kelli up to a striker position from sweeper alongside our other striker Tori O’Connor. We then assigned Tori’s sister Charlene to the sweeper position.”
Apparently, the coaches made the right decision. Cherry went on to score three goals in the first half, her first hat trick of the season. She also scored a second-half goal, giving her four for the match. Freshman Tori O’Connor, sophomore Chloe Breider and senior Megan Peterson also scored first-half goals.
On defense, Pennacchio credited senior Charlene O’Connor for stifling the Lady Longhorns’ few offensive attacks. Battle Mountain scored its one goal after Charlene was pulled with three minutes left in the match.
“We don’t lose anything with Charlene,” continued Pennacchio. “We still have speed and tenacity and the ability to shut down the opponent’s offensive charge.”
With Incline ahead 6-0 going into the second half, the girls played more of a ball-control game.
“We really do not like to roll-up the score against an opponent who is out-matched,” Pennacchio said.
Pennacchio said he told his players at halftime they could only score goals off an overlap play, a header or a cross.
Junior Erin Canino overlapped Megan Peterson and scored from the left side, Cherry scored her fourth goal of the game on a cross from senior Chelsea Bolton, and senior Lindsey Iida scored the last goal on an attempted header that ricocheted off her shoulder.
The finally tally was 23 shots on goal for Incline (74 percent on frame) to four shots on goal for the Lady Longhorns.
A week after the Incline High School varsity girls soccer team dropped its first match at Dayton — and four days after falling 7-0 at home against rival Truckee — the Lady Highlanders enjoyed a 9-1 thumping Saturday at Battle Mountain High School, improving its record this season to 4-2.
The win was a much-needed one, said IHS assistant coach Mike Pennacchio, as the team prepares for Thursday’s match at rival North Tahoe High School.
“We really needed this game to carry us into Thursday’s game against North Tahoe,” said Pennacchio, who coached the Lady Highlanders Saturday because coach John Paganelli was visiting his new granddaughter in San Francisco. “We needed the girls to get accustomed to the changes in the lineup and formation.”
Thursday’s match takes place at 3 p.m. in Tahoe City.
There was no looking ahead to that match on Saturday, however, as the girls came out strong right from the start, with IHS junior Kelli Cherry scoring a breakaway goal just 48 seconds into the match to put Incline up 1-0.
Getting out to a strong start is something the girls have struggled with this season, Pennacchio said.
“The coaching staff decided at the beginning of the week that we need to place more pressure on the offensive end,” Pennacchio said. “We brought Kelli up to a striker position from sweeper alongside our other striker Tori O’Connor. We then assigned Tori’s sister Charlene to the sweeper position.”
Apparently, the coaches made the right decision. Cherry went on to score three goals in the first half, her first hat trick of the season. She also scored a second-half goal, giving her four for the match. Freshman Tori O’Connor, sophomore Chloe Breider and senior Megan Peterson also scored first-half goals.
On defense, Pennacchio credited senior Charlene O’Connor for stifling the Lady Longhorns’ few offensive attacks. Battle Mountain scored its one goal after Charlene was pulled with three minutes left in the match.
“We don’t lose anything with Charlene,” continued Pennacchio. “We still have speed and tenacity and the ability to shut down the opponent’s offensive charge.”
With Incline ahead 6-0 going into the second half, the girls played more of a ball-control game.
“We really do not like to roll-up the score against an opponent who is out-matched,” Pennacchio said.
Pennacchio said he told his players at halftime they could only score goals off an overlap play, a header or a cross.
Junior Erin Canino overlapped Megan Peterson and scored from the left side, Cherry scored her fourth goal of the game on a cross from senior Chelsea Bolton, and senior Lindsey Iida scored the last goal on an attempted header that ricocheted off her shoulder.
The finally tally was 23 shots on goal for Incline (74 percent on frame) to four shots on goal for the Lady Longhorns.
