SEBASTOPOL – The Analy girls continued their march toward North
Bay soccer prominence this week, combining a 2-0 win over El Molino
with a well-played, 1-0 loss to visiting Windsor.
The ever-improving Lions finished off a solid week of play with
a 2-0 loss to Sonoma.
At press time, the Tigers were 13-3-1 overall and 6-3 in the
SCL, while the Lions stood at 1-10-1 on the year and 0-6 in
league.
Lions make it a game
The Oct. 6 meeting with El Mo at Karlson Field bore no
resemblance to the first meeting between the teams, a 6-1 win by
the Tigers, as the Lions battled gamely throughout.
Analy jumped on top with a pair of goals from Nina Henelsmith in
the first half, and then held off the Lion’s charge the rest of the
way to post a two-goal margin of victory.
There were plenty of positives to go around for El Mo, a
rebuilding program looking for consistency and improvement.
“We took Analy by surprise and made it a real contest,” said El
Mo coach Koss Fasel,“ citing a valiant effort from midfielders Val
LaForge, Jene Palmer, and Isy Ruiz. “We seem to have turned a
corner and hopefully we can continue this for the next four
games.”
For the Tigers, it was a workmanlike effort that was good enough
to retain local bragging rights.
“It was a spirited effort by the El Mo side in a game where we
played rather casually,” noted Tiger coach Joseph Heil. “As in the
first El Mo game, I tried to play everyone and it hurt our
continuity to some extent.”
Tigers battle Windsor
Despite a 1-0 loss, Analy may look back on its Oct. 11 meeting
with visiting Windsor as a defining moment in the season. The
Tigers out-played the Jaguars for much of the game, but failed to
capitalize on their few scoring chances.
“It was a very strong performance by our team,” said Heil, who
cited a tremendous effort by forward Deanna Molkenbuhr. “Our goal
coming in was to show improvement versus teams that would
represent the quality we hope to face in the NCS playoffs. “We were
naturally very disappointed in the result, but very pleased with
the level of our play.”
Windsor broke a scoreless tie with just nine minutes left in the
second half, as leading scorer Amanda LeCave broke through on a run
and tallied what proved to be the winning goal.
Although disappointed, the Analy coach was philosophical in
defeat.
“I have to say, I’m very enthused by our effort, and it speaks
well for the possibility of doing well against strong opponents in
the playoffs,” he said. “The soccer gods were just not with us.
That’s the game and why it holds such fascination-just
inexplicable.”
The Tigers will be tested again this week when they visit Casa
Grande (Oct. 13 after press time) and host Healdsburg on Oct. 20
(5/7 p.m.), while the Lions travel to Petaluma on Oct. 13 (5/7
p.m.) and host Casa on Oct. 20 (4/5:30 p.m.).
