By Benjamin Minch, Staff Writer
The weather was in a seemingly perfect condition for the Sailors of Newport Harbor. Rain clouds were pummeling the earth with rain and wind speed was around 12 mph. Despite these conditions, the Barons’ varsity girls soccer team prevailed and defeated the Sailors with a score of 2-1.
It was clear to see many of the players would have rather been at home rather than playing in the rain, but nonetheless, the game was very exciting and action-packed. During the first half of the game, the slippery ball wanted anything but to be kicked around and therefore spent a majority of the time out of bounds. The ball only remained in play for around 60% of the first and second quarter, leading to a scoreless first half.
The Sailors, however, were familiar with the rainy weather and seemed to outpace the Barons at the beginning of the game. They had taken many more shots and kept possession of the ball on the Baron’s side of the field. The Sailors were close to scoring a goal if it weren’t for the mistake of kicking the ball the wrong way, away from the goal, on a cross.
Stellar defense by junior Kennedy Chavez and senior Ally Bebout held off the scoring attempts of Newport as they blocked two breakaway drives. On top of this, many players were slipping on the wet turf and many were prone to injuries and lost possessions. Senior goalie Kianna Flores made two crucial saves midway through the game to keep the score of the first half to 0-0.
The second half witnessed a near own goal by Newport, which would start a spiral of energy towards the Baron’s side. These mistakes were met without pity as senior Marissa Lynch scored the first goal off of a cross by junior McKenna Hunter, making her the highest scoring player on the team. This gave the Barons a 1-0 lead.
The entire rest of the half was filled with near-goals from the Barons in a seemingly dominant second half. Multiple breakaways by senior Kylie Wilson almost resulted in goals but were stopped by the opposing Sailors.
The next goal came from the Barons as Marissa Lynch scored again off of a cross. This incresed the lead to 2-0 and put the sailors on their heels. The Sailors did manage to score a goal by the end of the fourth quarter, but it was too late for a come back. The Barons had taken the victory 2-1.
This game pushes the Baron’s record into a good position as they are now 11-2 for the whole season. Their next home game is 3 pm against Marina on Thursday the 18th of January.
