The girls soccer team battled hard against the Woodside Wildcats on Thursday afternoon, finishing in a 0-0 draw and leaving their four-win streak untarnished.
The Bears shut down the Wildcats early in the match, with sophomore outside back Juliana Pandolfo and freshman forward Cassidy Thomas swiping the ball and applying constant pressure. Woodside attempted a shot to the right post, but a quick kick from senior center back Addy Mccombs cleared the ball from entering the goal and ricocheted it back to junior goalkeeper Elise Koo.
“We had some good balls over the top, and we were able to find our forwards which worked well,” Pandolfo said.
Woodside monopolized possession at the beginning of the first half, but interceptions and tight defense from junior center midfielder Samantha Ruiz gave the Bears opportunities to control the game’s flow. 20 minutes into the game, the Bears began to piece through Woodside’s defense, and junior midfielder Maddie Bradley fired the ball but narrowly missed, bouncing off the right post.
Though the score was level, the Bears stayed aggressive and continued to outshine the Wildcats’ defense. With nine minutes left in the first half, Koo’s swift dive and deflection kept the ball from finding the center of the goal, sending the crowd into an eruption of cheers.
With just two minutes left in the first half, the Wildcats viciously hurled the ball toward the goal, but Pandolfo swooped in just in time to launch it afar. The half closed with the score still at 0-0, following the Bears’ intense defensive efforts.
M-A emerged into the second half with renewed energy, immediately snatching the ball and keeping the Wildcats on their toes.
“We were able to win our one-on-one battles and switch the momentum over to us, which helped a lot,” Pandolfo said.
After several back-and-forth possessions, Bradley sent a precise pass to Thomas, resulting in a close scoring attempt at the 22-minute mark. Building off the energy, junior midfielder Alex Alvarado unleashed a powerful goal attempt that soared just over the crossbar.
With 20 minutes left in the game, the Bears received a yellow card for shoving a player, and the Wildcats managed to sneak the ball into the net on the free kick. However, the goal was disqualified for an offside violation, and the Bears continued to close down on the Wildcats’ attacks.
M-A remained vigilant as freshman goalkeeper Adeleine Soltys performed a nail-biting save, springing up to tip the ball from infiltrating the top of the goal. Soltys continued to reject the Wildcats’ desperate attempts to slide the ball into the goal.
The Bears used guiding headers from sophomore forward Stella Hall to instigate fast breaks, leading to multiple close strategic shots from the corner by Ruiz.
Despite no changes in the score, the Bears continued to recover well from the Wildcats’ aggressive offense, matching their energy with a final shot that narrowly missed the far right post. They secured the tie, denying Woodside from finding the back of the net.
“We fought hard on defense, and we held them back really well at the end,” freshman midfielder Anika Hansen said.
“We’ve grown as a team and work better together. At the beginning of the season, we were a little uncomfortable, but our defense is now really strong and our forwards are working well together with good combinations,” Pandolfo said.
The Bears will travel to face the Hillsdale Knights next Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
