The Mountain View High School girls Soccer team won against St. Francis 1-0 at yesterday’s game, thereby sending the team further in CCS.
Rachel Ng, a senior and co-captain, scored on a penalty shot, sending MVHS to the Semi-finals against Aptos High School.
Up until the end of the game, both St. Francis and MVHS put up an intense offense and defense.
For the first half, MVHS and St. Francis fought aggressively for the ball. Both teams changed from offense to defense quickly which prevented any goals. While there were many close shots, the quarter ended with a 0-0 score.
In the second half, St. Francis came out with a tough offense. While at first MVHS was unable to make lasting strides on offense for long, the team defended well. Toward the end of the half, MVHS was able to advance on offense more frequently. With MVHS players quickly moving up the field, the team was able to pass and shoot several more close shots, but was held at bay by the St. Francis defense.
“[St. Francis’s] defense was supposedly pretty solid but from what we heard they got pretty stretched at times so we definitely tried to take that to our advantage and capitalize on our opportunities,” Ng said. “We tried to adjust the way we played.”
With the game still tied 0-0, both teams expressed an urgency to score, with the crowd not far behind in enthusiasm.
With two minutes left on the clock, Natasha Harris, a junior, was fouled by a St. Francis player resulting in a penalty shot. Ng took the shot, successfully scoring against the St. Francis goalie, Courtney Ogren, and ending the scoreless game.
“Right when they called it, I was happy that we got it, and then it just hit me that I was the one that had to take it,” Ng said. “It was definitely a little bit pressuring but with the team’s confidence behind me it definitely helped me a lot.”
One minute later, the game was called and MVHS was advancing to the semifinals.
Natalie Brehaut, a MVHS junior and goalie talked about MVHS’s defense in the game.
“The defense worked so hard the entire game and even through the ups and downs of both the first and second half, they kept working, and I think that’s what led to a successful outcome for us,” Brehaut said.
Check out some photos from the game below!
**An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Ng was fouled by the St. Francis player. The Oracle acknowledges the error and has since adjusted the statement accordingly.**