On Friday, September 20th at 5 p.m. in Truckee High’s Surprise Stadium, the Wolverine girls Varsity soccer team took on the North Tahoe Lakers in an exciting 1-0 match. The game was close due to the aggressive play by both teams, but in the end Truckee emerged victorious.
The Lakers have yet to face Truckee this season and had a 6-3 record prior to this face-off. The Wolverines have played four more games than North Tahoe with a 10-3 record. According to Max Preps, Truckee is ranked third in the 3A NIAA division while North Tahoe is ranked ninth.
Soccer games are broken up into quarters but this one consisted of two non-stop forty-minute halves. During the last two minutes of each half, fans were left in suspense by the faulty scoreboard that would stop counting down at 2:00.
The first and only goal was scored within the first ten minutes of the match by Keegan Dwyer. There were some near-scores throughout the rest of the game but goalies Ailey Whiteman, for Truckee, and Poppy Brokaw for the Lakers continually blocked the shots that were made.
At the end of the first half, Wolverine Liliana Lopez had a great shot at a second goal for Truckee but Brokaw was holding it down in the Laker goal.
Throughout the match, players wearing the number eight on both teams battled for the ball. Both freshman girls aggressively vied for the chance to pass or score. Truckee’s Ayla Valle and Tahoe’s Gabriella Jowers were found shoulder to shoulder countless times during the game. These girls were key players in Friday’s Varsity game, an impressive feat for their first season playing high school soccer.
On the defensive side of things for Truckee, junior Elsa Voegele had several huge kicks that caused the ball to sail over the heads of the opponent, making Whiteman’s job in goal a whole lot easier.
At halftime, the teams took well-deserved breaks from the nail-biting match. The evening sunlight played beautifully onto the green grass of the field. From Truckee’s stands, Mt. Rose was visible on the horizon and from the away bleachers the crest of Donner Summit could be seen peeking out from above the announcing booth. Countless gaggles of Canada geese flew back and forth over the field in vague “V” shapes.
Several fans had made their way onto the pitch to kick a ball around for a few minutes. On the edge of the field, Dylann Cornette and Emma Birnbaum donned goalie gloves and practiced blocking the ball as if preparing to enter the game. However, Whiteman remained goalkeeper throughout the entire match.
Neither team backed down in the second half. Truckee forward Dwyer’s shot narrowly missed the goal in the first few minutes. Brokaw slid on the grass to block it, but missed. The ball rolled across the front of the goal but failed to find purchase in the net, luckily for North Tahoe.
Number 19, sophomore Fiona Balan, was another Truckee girl that dominated play in this soccer showdown. As a forward, she did a great job of moving the ball towards the goal and attacking North Tahoe’s offense. Unfortunately for Truckee, not long into the last half, she had a fall causing her to limp off the field to join the rest of her team on the sidelines.
Additionally, a lot of Truckee’s veteran players were not in the rotation Friday evening, such as seniors Danielle Cornette and Ashley Moore. Junior Chloe Mitchell did not enter the game either due to an ankle injury.
In this match there was one goal, but the near-misses seemed like optical illusions to the crowd. When the ball really had sailed over the net, it almost looked like a goal was scored from the stands.
Both teams had upwards of four penalty kicks combined throughout the hard-fought game, two of which were during the final minutes of the second half.
This 1-0 victory affirms Truckee’s prowess in their division. If they continue to win, the team will most likely be a contender in the regional finals. The rivals go head-to-head once again at 4 p.m. on Laker grass Thursday, October 10th.
Eager to check out the next lady Wolverine soccer match? Find their schedule here.
North Tahoe’s girls varsity schedule is here.