By Tommy Fellner
The Acalanes Women’s Soccer team easily defeated the Las Lomas Lady Knights 4-1 on Saturday night. The Lady Dons played a fantastic game in front of a big crowd of students, friends and parents.
As always, the Lady Dons were the first to strike. Junior Regan McQuain played a through ball to freshman Kierra Krawec who outran her defender and redirected the ball into the bottom left corner of the cage. Las Lomas then buckled down and began to play very physically. Acalanes matched their physicality and continued to dominate the game.
With nearly seven minutes left in the half, Krawec turned her defender and passed it to streaking Caroline Clark who received the ball inside the goalie box, dribbled past the goalie and walked the ball into the back of the cage. The crowd roared and it was evident Acalanes had all the momentum.
Out of the half, both teams found it difficult to get past the others’ defense. However, Acalanes made a quick offensive attack that had the Lady Knights on their heels but Las Lomas managed to kick the ball out of bounds which resulted in a free kick for Acalanes. Senior Katharine Torchio broke the scoreless spell with a header into the back of the net off of the corner kick from Clark. Acalanes surely had this one in the bag.
All of a sudden, Las Lomas’ offense sprang to life and the Lady Dons found themselves playing catchup. With 22 minutes remaining, Las Lomas was awarded a free kick. The ball was rocketed into a swarm of players and got knocked around until it was kicked by a Lady Knight and bounced past keeper Sophia Giordano into the back of the net. It was now 3-1.
Needing two quick goals, Las Lomas went back on the attack and had a breakaway, outnumbering Acalanes’ defenders. The Lady Knights made a couple of quick passes until they had a one on one with the keeper. Giordano rushed out of the cage and made an unbelievable save by tipping the oncoming shot to the side and it rolled past the goal harmlessly. Acalanes then stopped the corner kick and breathed a sigh of relief.
Four minutes later, Krawec sprinted down the sideline and received a cross from sophomore Katharine Larson and fired it past the keeper to put Acalanes up 4-1 and ensure the win. The Lady Dons maintained possession for the final 10 minutes of the game and survived Las Lomas’ late offensive attack.
The Lady Dons will take on Miramonte, a team they have beaten soundly and tied this season, in the semifinals of the NCS playoffs.