Girls JV soccer places third at first pre-season tournament

Granada girls’ junior varsity soccer team attended their first pre-season tournament in Newhall, CA at Hart High School over two weekends, December 6 and December 13. The girls took home the third place title after leaving the tournament 3-0-1 out of the four games played in the tournament.

For the first game of the tournament, the girls battled the Saugus Centurions, a defensive battle that ended in a tie.

“The tough part about playing Saugus was the fear of messing up because I did not want to let the team down,” said sophomore Emma Burnett. “We worked better together and it was easier to communicate on the field in the other games.”

In the second game, the girls took on the Alemany Warriors and ended up on top winning 1-0. Considering Alemany won their first game, the girls expected a tough game. Heather Scott scored the game winning goal in the second half.

“I like how we worked well together on field to score goals,” said sophomore Heather Scott. “I feel as if I should not get all the credit for scoring because without my team, we would not have won the game against Alemany.”

The girls played the third game against the Burroughs Indians and defeated them 2-1. Devyn Prince and Alyssa Gonzalez both scored goals to give the lady highlanders a win.

“I think we did well communicating on the field and that is why we scored a goal,” said freshman Devyn Prince. “Without communication and teamwork, scoring would be impossible and it felt good to know my team accomplished our goal and won.”

The final game, and the game to determine their placing, was against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Highlanders overtook the Cavaliers 2-0. Prince and Alyssa Vives both scored a goal in this game to crown them third place champions.

“We were able to get through their defensive line and allow our forwards to attack the goal,” said sophomore Amanda Klessig. “I felt like I needed to do my best, and help the team as best as I could.”

The Highlanders are excited about placing in the tournament and are working hard for the rest of their games. They will play their next game of the pre-season against the Monroe Vikings on Monday, January 15 and they prepared a lot for the game.

“Working hard in practice and working on playing together is what will allow us to continue playing the way we have been playing” said Klessig. “With this confidence, our overall strength as a team will increase, and hopefully we will win more games.”

-Marissa Scott

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