Carlmont’s girls varsity soccer team fought to the very end in a 5-4 loss to the Woodside Wildcats.
This was the Scots’ second matchup of the season against the Woodside. The Scots had previously secured a 3-2 victory over the Wildcats in the first game.
“Carlmont had beat us pretty handily at home. They had us down 3-1, and then we scored once late, but we knew that they were a tough team. We knew we had to be mentally and physically prepared to play them,” said Ignacio Navarrete, Woodside’s head coach.Â
The previous Carlmont win also influenced the Scots’ mentality going into the game.
“We knew after the last time, when we beat them in the league opener, that they were going to come back this game and play hard against us because they really wanted it, and we knew that,” said Jillian Quan, Carlmont’s head coach.
The game’s first goal came in the 13th minute when senior forward Sofia Bellver Eymann scored for the Wildcats.
The Scots quickly followed with two goals from junior striker Thais Nuñez and senior forward Mia Khouri.Â
The first half closed with another score from Woodside in the 34th minute, resulting in a stalemate.
Going into the second half, both teams looked to reinvigorate their play. Woodside quickly took advantage with three goals, including two more by Bellver Eymann.
Carlmont responded by making a formation change, playing four midfielders instead of the typical three.Â
“So we were playing with four in the midfield. I think we had numbers up, and that gave us a lot more opportunities to go forward,” said junior midfielder Ainsley Boyd.
Still, it looked grim for the Scots until the game’s final minutes, when Boyd scored twice.
Despite their late-game recovery efforts, the Scots could not beat the Wildcats.Â
“Despite going down 5-2 in the second half, we battled back in that last 10 minutes, and we were able to mount a comeback. I think we just ran out of time,” Quan said. “We just have to keep a strong mindset the whole 80 minutes the whole game and not relax; it just takes one little moment of lack of focus, and boom, they can counterattack on us.”
The Scots are now looking to bring their late-game energy into the entirety of their next game against the Hillsdale Knights on Tuesday, Jan. 31.
