By Marleld Duran
Staff Writer
Today, the girls varsity soccer team will clash in a home playoff game against San Dimas High School in the quarterfinals of California Interscholastic Federation (CIF).
“We go into every game expecting to win,” stated Coach Rafael Moran, “but I expect the girls to come out and give a good, maximum effort. If they do that we have a good chance of winning the next game.”
On Tuesday, the Lady Eagles played against Colony High School (CHS) and came out victorious, 2-1.
Junior Ciannah Correa scored the first goal of the game during the first half. However, CHS scored afterwards leaving the two teams in a tie, at halftime.
Despite being tied by the end of the first half, the Eagles quickly bounced back during the second half when Jessica Lopez scored the Lady Eagles’ second goal of the night, ensuring Gabrielino a victory.
Last Thursday Gabrielino beat Lakeside High School in a home game, 2-1, in their first round of CIF.
Within the first 11 minutes senior Caia Rice made a pass to Lopez and scored the first goal of the night.
Just moments later, the Eagles made a corner kick that nearly resulted in another goal for GHS when Rice headed the ball but unfortunately hit the post.
During the first half of the game, Gabrielino held possession of the ball for most of the half while LHS defended.
Senior Izel Gutierrez scored the second goal shortly after the second half began and the Lady Lancers scored a few minutes later in return.
The Eagles scored their third goal, but because of an offside penalty, the goal did not count. Gabrielino was still successful by the end of the night.
“They did a great job connecting passes and would bounce right back after a mistake, you can tell they’re bonded really well,” stated Aaron Nessman, Lakeside head coach. “They’ll continue to go deep in the playoffs with their style of play.”
On Feb. 7 GHS played its annual Cancer Awareness and senior night game, which was also their final league game against Mountain View High School.
Before the game began, underclassmen players gave speeches showing their appreciation for the seniors.
Although neither team scored during the first half of the game, Amanda Morales and Mariah Sigala, seniors and Correa combined to score four goals during the second half giving the Eagles a win against the Vikings, 4-0.
“The first half could have been better,” said Morales. “But after that half we clicked and worked our way to play real soccer.”
