Despite a scoreless tie with Harbor High School, the Scotts Valley High School girls soccer team was not satisfied with their effort or the final result on Tuesday, Jan. 28.
“I think we needed to work together more,” said senior captain Darby McFall. “Sometimes you have off days.”
Scotts Valley came into the game the top team in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League while Harbor came in with two wins in five league contests. However, the Pirates gave the Falcons all they could handle.
“Harbor came out and played really well,” said Scotts Valley Head Coach Art Munoz. “They kind of got us out of rhythm.”
The tie was anything but a defensive struggle as both teams moved the ball up and down the field, without being able to find the back of the net.
Munoz said the Falcons were “fortunate” to come out of the game with a scoreless tie.
Senior goalkeeper Claire Covert was part of that, making key saves at several junctures.
“Claire came up big a couple of times,” he said.
Covert finished with six saves, including a diving stop to her right on a first-half shot from 15 yards out. Several other Harbor shots flew just over the net with one floater hitting the crossbar and out.
The Falcons offense sputtered a bit without leading scorer Emmy Koflanovich who tore a ligament in her knee in Scotts Valley’s 3-1 win over Soquel High on Thursday, Jan. 23. Koflanovich, who had scored 10 goals, is out for the season.
Several times against the Pirates, the Falcons were unable to get a strong shot on goal while the ball was bounding around free in the box off throw-ins and corner kicks.
“We need to be a little bit more aggressive when we have those chances in the box,” Munoz said.
Harbor had game-planned for the undefeated Falcons said head coach Emily Scheese.
“We heard about their throw-in,” Scheese said. “We spent practice all day yesterday defending set throw-in pieces.”
Many of the Falcons scoring opportunities came from throw-ins fired toward the goal by midfielder Taylor Raymond aimed toward headers from captain Melinda Lane and forward Brittany Cartee.
Scheese said her team’s defense was able to stay organized against the Falcon attack.
The Falcons improved to 4-0-2 in the SCCAL and Harbor 2-2-2
Despite the tie, McFall continues to have high hopes for the season.
“I’m really excited about it,” McFall said. “We just need to keep up the good work and hope for the best.”
The Falcons played SLV on Thursday, Jan. 30 after press time and will host St. Francis on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 3:30 p.m.
