The girls soccer team lost 2-1 to the Menlo Knights in the CCS Division III semi-finals on Wednesday night.
From the get go the Knights began with numerous incursions on a tight M-A defense. Junior centerback Lila Mahadevan emerged as an early contributor, smothering a Menlo fast break and forcing a feeble shot on goal.
An M-A defensive penalty gave the Bears their first scare of the night as Menlo was awarded a free kick. Fortunately for the Bears, the shot sailed over the crossbar, preserving the stalemate.
Menlo continued to press the Bears’ defensive gaps, but a clearance by senior outside back Brooke Fehrenbach halted the Knights’ progress and forced a corner kick. With Menlo unable to capitalize on the corner, the Bears mustered their first real offensive attack. However, the fast and physical Menlo defense forced a premature shot from freshman striker Cassidy Thomas that sailed wide right.
The Knights’ barrage of attacks continued as the first half neared a close. Despite a variety of close calls, M-A’s defense prevailed once again. This time, standout performances from senior center back Addy McCombs and junior goalkeeper Elise Koo preserved the tie at 0-0.
In a last-minute effort, junior centermid Maddie Bradley found a gap in the Knights’ defense, but Menlo managed to regroup before any damage could be done.
With the score still tied 0-0 at halftime, the Bears began the second half with possession. An M-A corner kick gave the Bears their first real scoring opportunity of the night, but they failed to capitalize as the shot attempt went out of bounds.
Once again, the Bears found themselves on defensive alert as freshman goalkeeper Adeleine Soltys recorded two consecutive saves to keep M-A in the game.
Unfortunately for the Bears, the Knights remained relentless offensively, sending a rocket toward the upper left corner of the net, only for it to ricochet off the top post. Moments later, Menlo launched another screamer toward the upper right corner, but once again, it rang off the crossbar.
The Bears luck finally ran out with 23 minutes left to play as the Knights capitalized on a slow M-A defensive transition, and sunk a shot in the bottom left corner to catapult them to a 1-0 lead.
Determined to respond, M-A rallied. A Menlo defensive penalty awarded the Bears a free kick, which junior center mid Samantha Ruiz sent soaring toward the crossbar.
Multiple saves by the Knights’ goalkeeper preserved Menlo’s 1-0 lead coming down the stretch, but the Bears weren’t done yet. An M-A fastbreak and subsequent tripping penalty provided the Bears with a penalty kick that sent sophomore winger Akimi Jespersen to the box.
Calm, cool, and collected, Jespersen buried her shot, capitalizing on the Bears’ golden opportunity and tying the game at 1-1.
With the score tied, a newfound belief energized the Bears. The following minutes were filled with relentless M-A offensive pressure and several shots on goal.
But once again, a slow transition proved costly for the Bears. The Knights streaked down the field and scored with eight minutes left to play.
In a desperate attempt, the Bears found enough space to send a heater that barely hit off the crossbar. With time running out, M-A put together a valiant effort to force overtime, but it was to no avail.
“The family we have created and the environment that is our team is something special and so fun, and I will really miss the team,” McCombs said.
“After a pretty rough season last year, we came into this season with the goal to make the playoffs. I think our team is definitely proud of how far we made it into the season,” Koo added.
“I’m so excited for what this team will do next year,” Ferenbach said. “The team is quite young, and I think they’ll just get better and better.”
This concludes the season for the Bears, finishing 10-7-3 and securing second place overall in league play.
