Senior Girls’ Soccer Win Home Match of Hometown Rivalry Series with Avon View Avalanche

The KES Senior Girls’ Soccer team opened game 1 of their Hometown Rivalry Series at home last Thursday, October 8, just before the Thanksgiving break, with a solid 7-0 win over the Avon View Avalanche. KES started the game with a ferocious and blustery wind at their back and pinned the Avalanche deep into their own zone for great portions of the half. With the aid of the wind and great pressure on the ball by the KES frontline, it didn’t take long for the KES forwards and midfield to start firing shots at the Avalanche goalkeeper. Senior Lily Gale opened the scoring within five minutes of play, as she calmly and coolly slotted the ball home into the bottom left corner following a 9-way passing play. This is the type of goal that builds a team’s confidence early in a game because nearly everyone gets involved and contributes to the most positive outcome – a goal!

Buoyed by this ‘team goal’, KES really stepped up the pressure and were relentless in the Avalanche end of the field. This collective effort yielded four more KES goals in the first 45-minutes. Allie Martin, Jill Griffith and Reegan Wagg with two, all finished with authority in building a halftime lead of 5-0. For midfielders Griffith and Wagg, their markers were their first of the season, and every indication is that both players will figure prominently in future KES scoring. Martin, playing the striker position, scored for the second game in a row, then added another in the second half to push the KES lead to 6-0. With about ten minutes to play, midfielder Eva Palov gained control of the ball, drove forward with speed, and hammered a great right-footed shot, from outside the penalty area, into the bottom left corner to make the final score 7-0. While the aforementioned did the damage on the scoresheet, holding midfielder Rendi Ashley was instrumental in intercepting and winning balls and then finding open teammates with passes to initiate frequent KES attacks. Wingers Gale, Carolina Herrera, and Danica Scully, who is primarily a goalkeeper buts shows great adeptness as an outfield player as well, were dangerous all game long as their defensive pressure forced numerous turnovers and their ability to keep ball possession allowed for numerous coordinated attacking plays.

A creative attack was well-supported and solidified by a stellar defensive corps of centre-backs Neila MacDonald & Kayla Jarvis, and fullbacks Fiona MacDonald, Hannah Bryant and Lucy Goddard who did not allow a dangerous shot on goal all game! Anchoring the team from the deepest position on the field, goalkeepers Lennon Rutledge and Maya Faucher shared the shutout. While they faced limited action, what was really impressive about their play on this day was the focus and concentration they had to maintain despite the horrendous wind and cooling temperatures as the game extended into the early evening hours. Both Rutledge and Faucher displayed confident on-the-ball ability when KES played out of defense. Well done to the team for a solid group performance!

KES welcomed midfielder Katie Trifos, who played her first game in a KES uniform yesterday.