by Niki Cunningham
Sports Editor
ereporter: Bob Nielsen
The Lady Grizzly Soccer team faced off against Central Valley Thursday Night at the Redding Soccer Park. Right off the bat, Lassen started with the shooting, with a couple of near misses. The Grizzlies opened the scoring early and kept it up throughout the game, ending with a 6-0 lead over Central Valley. Lassen pressured the goal from the first minute to the last.
Lassen Keepers Ashley Michel and Jordan McCloughan combined for a shut-out, behind a stellar performance by the back 4. Briana Ashmore and Brenna Mendonca anchored the middle of the defense, with solid help on the outside by Sabrina Huskey and Morgan Martin. Ericka Zimmerman and Isabell Tyler did a fine job coming off the bench to hold the back line.
The midfield had to work around a host of white shirts to get the ball up front. With the Central Valley defense aggressively pulling the Lassen attackers offside, Lassen had to adjust their tactics. Lassen was most effective working from the outside and crossing the ball in front of goal. The 6 goals came from 6 different Lassen attackers: Hailey Chittock, Chloe Monahan, Francis Lopez, Jessica Rorie, Jenna Monahan, and Claira Schwab. Working together as a team, Lassen pressured the keeper from all sides, and all of the players in the midfield or the front line had at least one shot on goal.
Lassen is now 2-0 in league play, and 5-5-1 overall this season. Their aggressive, attacking style of play will be tested next against Anderson on Tuesday, 1/20 at the Redding Soccer Park.
