by Niki Cunningham
Sports Editor
ereporter: Bob Nielsen
The Lassen Grizzlies faced off against the Central Valley Falcons at Riverside on Tuesday afternoon. The Girls enjoyed the nice spring-like weather as they played the early game. Lassen jumped out to control the game early on. The Lassen offense dominated the ball, making quick, short passes throughout the field. With a greater confidence, the Grizzlies utilized their own defenders to move the ball from one side of the field to the other. The Passing was punctuated by goals from Hailey Chittock,
After several missed opportunities, Hailey Chittock took the ball from half field, out-sprinted the defense, and made an easy pass to the near post to put Lassen on the board. Not long after, Brenna Mendonca made a very similar run, but took the shot from further out and put it up high, beyond the reach of the keeper. Towards the end of the half, Isabell Tyler made a nice through pass to Aria Heath, who showed great ball control and pushed the ball to the back post for the Grizzlies third goal of the half.
After halftime, with the game firmly in control, the Grizzlies took a look at players who will replace the seniors on next year’s team. With most of the team’s leadership on the bench, Lassen continued to dictate the game’s pace. With every missed shot or broken-up attack, the Grizzlies gained more poise and confidence.
Towards the end of the half, Kristen Wentz made a pass across the goal mouth to a charging Andi Woodward, who made an easy touch in for Lassen’s final goal. While the offense dominated the half, the defense made some good play to keep the ball away from the keeper. Even so, the Falcons broke through a few times, and one shot made it into the goal off of a deflection.
The final score was 4-1, and Lassen Moved to 5-2 in league played. They are currently tied for 2nd in the league. Altogether, Coach Ayers was much more pleased with this game than the two team’s last meeting, as the girls showed much better field awareness and ball control. The Girls have one last regular season home game at Riverside Park on Thursday, Feb 5th at 3:15.
