After an intense matchup against Menlo-Atherton (M-A), the Carlmont girls varsity soccer team lost 3-0 on a night where the team struggled to get through the Bears’ defense.
Heading into Tuesday’s game, the Scots were determined to get their first win of the season. Coming off two scoreless games losing against the Hillsdale Knights and Burlingame Panthers (3-0 and 2-0, respectively) John Wilkinson, the team’s head coach, had high hopes for this game.
“From the previous season we beat the Bears and most of our starting players were sophomores and juniors at the time. If we can control the ball and stop on defense, we should play well,” Wilkinson said.
After a few minutes of intense back-and-forth action, Camille Melcher, a M-A freshman, received the ball after a spectacular pass from midfielder Lexi Quinn, a M-A senior, for an open shot. Melcher put the ball away with ease, giving the Bears a 1-0 early lead.
“It felt great to score first because our players were born to play soccer and to see them push the ball without error shows great athletic talent for the team,” said Jason Luce, varsity girls head coach at M-A.
Without much scoring action in the rest of the first half, the Scots got a lot of opportunities but failed to produce a goal. In the final minutes of the half, the Bears won a corner kick. Kate Trevor, an M-A junior, took the corner and placed it perfectly for Quinn, who headed the ball in for another goal. Heading into halftime, the Bears had a 2-0 lead over the Scots.
“Many think you have to score to win the game. What wins games is defense, and we prioritize defense more than offense because if we hold them back from our goal, our only job is to score once which we successfully did,” Melcher said.
In the second half, the Scots’ luck wasn’t any better. Maya Blodgett, a junior striker for the Scots, pushed the ball into M-A territory but was eventually given a yellow card for a rough foul.
With the ball in the Bears’ possession, Juliet Dineen, an M-A senior, decided to take a long contested shot. Dineen’s shot bent perfectly into the top right corner of the goal to give the Bears a 3-0 lead.
The Scots would have a few more close chances, but failed to come out of the game with any goals. The final whistle would blow for a final score of 3-0.
“I was disappointed that we couldn’t score especially because we had so many opportunities. But we each did our job, we just have to make better passes and have better communication with each other,” said Jenna Reinhardt, a Carlmont junior.
