After a stagnant 68 minutes of soccer Kimball High decided to take Wednesday’s Valley Oak League soccer match with East Union, but breaking the scoreless tie only seemed to excite the Lancers as they responded with a goal of their own for a 1-1 stalemate at Dino Cunial Field.
Neither team asserted themselves with the brand of soccer expected when the two undefeated programs took the pitch. Passing was fluent and scoring opportunities were at a minimum. East Union seemed to put together more chances at the net, but causing the crowd to gasp with near misses is all East Union could muster.
“I don’t know,” East Union head coach Jim Todd admitted with a baffled look. “It just didn’t seem like us. The first half there was a lot of kickball and very little controlled play from both sides.
“We just looked lackluster.”
East Union was unable to capitalize on scoring chances when they did present themselves, with Isela Rivera doing all she could to find the back of the net. She had two chances in the first half and seemingly focused on distributing to teammates around the box in the second half.
Kimball put itself in position to separate its program from the Lancers when Taylor Alexander found the top right corner of the East Union goal in the 68th minute, and looked to not only get a one goal separation but a one game separation from the Lancers in the standings.
That would change mere minutes later when Stephanee Sabala got her chance racing up the East Union sideline, raced down her ball and got off a powerful shot, drifting up past the Jaguars keeper and tying the contest with just over five minutes to play.
“I just took the shot once I got close enough,” Sabala said. “When I got about to the 18-yard box I decide to take the shot. I think that that goal was a team effort.
“Unless we all were in on it that shot would have never happened.”
The Lancers are surely glad it did happen, just as Kimball knows a golden opportunity to seize momentum slid through its grasp. The Jaguars did set the tone for the game’s climatic conclusion, and with enough youth to keep things interesting, Kimball will most definitely play a part in the VOL shakedown.
“Our center-mid’s just started finding openings,” Kimball head coach Ronald Hattley. “I told our girls that we would have to create our own intensity. We couldn’t try and match theirs, we wanted them to match ours.
“We had two good chances, but their goalie (Ashley Almeida), she made a great block.”
The Lancers will try and get back into the win column Monday when they make the trip east to Sonora. The first whistle is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Neither team asserted themselves with the brand of soccer expected when the two undefeated programs took the pitch. Passing was fluent and scoring opportunities were at a minimum. East Union seemed to put together more chances at the net, but causing the crowd to gasp with near misses is all East Union could muster.
“I don’t know,” East Union head coach Jim Todd admitted with a baffled look. “It just didn’t seem like us. The first half there was a lot of kickball and very little controlled play from both sides.
“We just looked lackluster.”
East Union was unable to capitalize on scoring chances when they did present themselves, with Isela Rivera doing all she could to find the back of the net. She had two chances in the first half and seemingly focused on distributing to teammates around the box in the second half.
Kimball put itself in position to separate its program from the Lancers when Taylor Alexander found the top right corner of the East Union goal in the 68th minute, and looked to not only get a one goal separation but a one game separation from the Lancers in the standings.
That would change mere minutes later when Stephanee Sabala got her chance racing up the East Union sideline, raced down her ball and got off a powerful shot, drifting up past the Jaguars keeper and tying the contest with just over five minutes to play.
“I just took the shot once I got close enough,” Sabala said. “When I got about to the 18-yard box I decide to take the shot. I think that that goal was a team effort.
“Unless we all were in on it that shot would have never happened.”
The Lancers are surely glad it did happen, just as Kimball knows a golden opportunity to seize momentum slid through its grasp. The Jaguars did set the tone for the game’s climatic conclusion, and with enough youth to keep things interesting, Kimball will most definitely play a part in the VOL shakedown.
“Our center-mid’s just started finding openings,” Kimball head coach Ronald Hattley. “I told our girls that we would have to create our own intensity. We couldn’t try and match theirs, we wanted them to match ours.
“We had two good chances, but their goalie (Ashley Almeida), she made a great block.”
The Lancers will try and get back into the win column Monday when they make the trip east to Sonora. The first whistle is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
