Women’s Soccer Team at Home for Last Three Matches, Looking to Continue Winning Ways

For the sophomores on the Eagle women's soccer team, last week was most likely the last chance to get their first win against Feather River, one of two conference teams they had yet to beat in their two seasons.

After sophomore Corynn Lemos scored on an assist from sophomore Jonell Alderson just 5 minutes into the home match, the defenses prevailed, and the Eagles earned that elusive victory, 1-0.

Siskiyous then traveled to Eureka and defeated Redwoods on Friday, 3-1, improving their record to 9-6 overall and 4-3 in the Golden Valley Conference.

Coach Ed Kephart's squad now returns home for its final three conference contests, beginning this Tuesday at 4 pm against Shasta, which has yet to win in the GVC and is 2-10 overall.

The Eagles have a 3-0 record on their home field this season and go into Tuesday's game against Shasta having won 8 of their last 11.

Feather River defeated the Eagles to open the GVC season, 2-1, and played conference-leading Lake Tahoe to a 0-0 tie in early October. The Golden Eagles were previously ranked in the state and nationally.

Going into last week's match, the Eagles changed a few players' positions to get some better matchups.

"We moved Corynn to right wing so she could give us a different look, and she immediately pressured the defense," Kephart said. "She and Jonell had a nice combination, and Corynn had a nice finish" on the goal.

Freshman Hailey Walton, one of the team's top scorers this season, moved to center back to help defend against Feather River sophomore Rafaela Anguiano, who is second in conference with 11 goals. Kephart said Walton and sophomore defender Harrisen Poe helped limit Anguiano's shots and goal, while sophomore goalie Avery Suhr had nice saves on two of her shots, one in the first half and one late in the game, when Feather River put a lot of pressure on the defense.

Sophomore Maiyah Mcdonald also moved up to a wing position, and the defense got strong play from sophomore midfielder Katie Effa, sophomore defender Izabella Ault, sophomore midfielder Meadow Cummings, and freshmen midfielders Taya Martinelli and Jaclynn Wolf.

Sophomore forward Brooklynn Wade helped pressure the Feather River defense, but Feather River goalie Rhiannon Easley had 8 saves on 9 shots on goal.

Suhr dove headfirst into a sliding shot in the second half and was slow to get up after diving for one of her 4 saves in the match, but she was OK, according to the coach.

Kephart said he reminded the sophomores before the match that Feather River and Lake Tahoe were the only two conference teams they had not yet defeated, "and they took it personally." Last year, during the Eagle soccer program's best-ever 13-4-3 season, they tied Feather River 1-1 at home and lost 1-0 on the road.

"It was a good team effort," Kephart said of last week's win. "We came together and worked as a group."

The Eagles haven't yet come close against Tahoe, but they'll get another chance next Monday, Nov. 3rd, at 4 p.m. on their home field. They'll also get a chance to avenge an earlier 2-0 loss to Butte when they host the Roadrunners in the conference finale Nov. 11th at 1:30 p.m.

Friday's 3-1 victory at Redwoods was a bit less stressful than the 1-0 home win the Eagles scored over the Corsairs on the last day of September. That one was scoreless until Jaclynn Wolf scored with an assist by Katie Effa in the final minutes.

It was one of the many closely contested matches the Eagles have played this season. Other than an 8-0 loss to Tahoe, they've only allowed more than 2 goals in one other match, a 3-0 non-conference loss to Chabot in early September. Their other losses were by scores of 2-0, 2-1, 2-1, and 2-0. In their 9 wins, they've had 4 shutouts and allowed 1 goal five times.

"Our defense for the most part has been pretty tight," Kephart said. The offense has not been as prolific as last year, when Brooklynn Wade scored 32 goals to set the program record for goals in a season and goals in a career. A knee injury she suffered in the summer has slowed Wade this season, and the team's scoring has been spread around more, led by Alderson, Wolf, Walton, Martinelli, Wade, Mcdonald, and freshman Sam Gish.

Starting this week, Tahoe was 5-0-1 in conference, Butte 4-1, Siskiyous 4-3, Feather River 3-2-1, Redwoods 2-5, and Shasta 0-7.

Kephart said Tahoe continues to be a "premiere-level" team and will be tough to beat, but the Eagles made some "silly mistakes" in their 2-0 loss at Butte, and he thinks they'll be better in the rematch on Nov. 11. "It's the last game of the year. We'll have a lot to play for."

By Steve Gerace