The first half began with a competitive start by both teams. We were doing well until the 15th minute when the Cardinals were awarded a corner kick. The kick was perfectly placed to the back post where one of the Cardinals went into the air and struck the ball with a header from 5 yards out. The perfect shot was zipped by our Falcon goalkeeper for the first goal of the game. The Falcons regrouped and played pretty solid against the talented Cardinals. The first half had the Falcons with 1 shot on goal while the Cardinals had 5 shots on goal. The score at the half was Cardinals 1 to the Falcons 0.

At halftime we made a few adjustments and realized we would be playing into a pretty strong wind current. Our Falcons strung several passes and made several runs on the Cardinals defense. In the 57th minute our Falcons were awarded a corner kick. Freshman Mary Lonhart took the kick and placed a beautiful pass to the front of the Cardinal goal. The ball bounced off a few players and eventually to the feet of junior Melinda Lane who quickly guided the ball into the goal by the Cardinal defense. The Cardinals quickly regrouped and earned another corner kick on a counter attack. The Cardinal delivered a quick kick to a nearby open field player who sent a rocket shot into the Falcon goal from approximately 25 yards away. The game then continued with the Cardinals putting several more point blank shots on our Falcon goal. The shots were kept from scoring by the fantastic play of senior captain Emily Johnson who made several spectacular saves as the Falcon goalkeeper. The second half ended with the score being, Cardinals 2 to the Falcons 1. The Cardinals put 8 shots on goal while the Falcons put 3 shots on goal during the second half.

The Falcon goalkeeper was senior captain Emily Johnson who had a great game. Emily showed her athletic abilities, good hands and quick feet while saving several very well placed Cardinal shots. The Falcon defense was played by junior Darby McFall, junior co captain Megan Keating, freshman Mary Lonhart and freshman Desiree Rakela. The outside midfielders were led by sophomore Taylor Raymond, junior Allie Carl and junior Nicole LaPorte. The inside midfielders were played by senior captain Madison Black, freshman Emmy Koflanovich and junior Melinda Lane. Our forwards were freshman Mikaela Inman, freshman Audrey Liebenberg and senior captain Jessica DuBridge. Madison Black, Melinda Lane and Emmy Koflanovich had a good game as center midfielders.

We would like to thank the Cardinals for a solid game. Our young Falcons went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the Central Coast Section. The Falcon players can be proud of their performance, energy and passion in the game. We showed an improvement in our play and chemistry with each other. With these experiences and improvement of our team play we will become a force to be dealt with. Our overall record is now 3 wins, 5 losses and 3 ties while our SCCAL record moves to 1 win, 1 loss and 1 tie. Our next game will be on Tuesday, January 15th, 6 PM against the Soquel Knights at their stadium.