Winning two of their three games this past week, the Riverbank soccer girls are headed into league play on a positive note.
First year head coach Josh Hauskens is getting every bit of grit and hustle out of his players early, establishing a 'never say die' attitude and battling from start to finish in every contest.
The girls hosted Delhi on Monday, March 2 and fell behind 2-0 in the first half, but stormed back for a 4-2 win.
"We picked going against the wind in the first half," the coach explained. "They (Delhi) scored both of their goals in the last three minutes of the first half, one on a corner kick."
With the wind at their back for the second half, the Lady Bruins got a quick score just after the break, Kaitlynn Deabenderfer cutting the deficit in half with a goal in the first minute. Additional goals followed and the Lady Bruins tightened up on the defensive end, giving Delhi no more opportunities to score.
Deabenderfer ended the day with two goals, while Celina Lopez and Celia Duran also found the back on the net. On Wednesday, March 4 on the road at Summerville, the girls lost goalie Kaitlyn Nelson early, as she took a kick to the forehead while making a save. She had to be taken off the field by ambulance and required stitches for the wound.
The game ended as a 3-1 loss for the Lady Bruins, with Deabenderfer netting the only goal of the game.
Friday, the girls were back on the home field and battled Denair, scoring three second half goals on the way to a 3-1 victory.
"We were down 1-0 at the half," Hauskens said.
Back up goalie, foreign exchange student Sophie Shreider, was in net for the Lady Bruins.
"We scored the tying goal about 20 minutes in to the second half," Hauskens said. "The last two goals came in the final three minutes of the game, the first on a penalty kick by Kaitlynn Deabenderfer."
Denair was called for a hand ball in the box, a call the Denair coach vehemently opposed, claiming it was unintentional.
Regardless, the hand ball was obvious and Deabenderfer was called on to take the shot. She calmly set up and gave the Denair keeper no chance on a rocket shot she sent to the right post.
That put the girls up by a 2-1 score and they put the game away on a beautiful rush in the final minute, with Erica Orellana evading two defenders on her way to the shot. The goalie deflected it but it bounced away, right to the foot of an onrushing Celia Duran, who found nothing but net.
"We got great midfield play from Celina Lopez and Lupita Gutierrez," Hauskens said. "Stephani Araujo played great defense, so did Angela Duran and our exchange student, Sophie Shreider, had two stops in goal."
The Lady Bruins amassed more than 40 shots on goal in a dominating performance.
They were slated to open Trans-Valley League play this week, at home against Ripon on Monday after The News went to press and they will travel to Escalon for a match on Wednesday, March 11 at 4:30 p.m.
First year head coach Josh Hauskens is getting every bit of grit and hustle out of his players early, establishing a 'never say die' attitude and battling from start to finish in every contest.
The girls hosted Delhi on Monday, March 2 and fell behind 2-0 in the first half, but stormed back for a 4-2 win.
"We picked going against the wind in the first half," the coach explained. "They (Delhi) scored both of their goals in the last three minutes of the first half, one on a corner kick."
With the wind at their back for the second half, the Lady Bruins got a quick score just after the break, Kaitlynn Deabenderfer cutting the deficit in half with a goal in the first minute. Additional goals followed and the Lady Bruins tightened up on the defensive end, giving Delhi no more opportunities to score.
Deabenderfer ended the day with two goals, while Celina Lopez and Celia Duran also found the back on the net. On Wednesday, March 4 on the road at Summerville, the girls lost goalie Kaitlyn Nelson early, as she took a kick to the forehead while making a save. She had to be taken off the field by ambulance and required stitches for the wound.
The game ended as a 3-1 loss for the Lady Bruins, with Deabenderfer netting the only goal of the game.
Friday, the girls were back on the home field and battled Denair, scoring three second half goals on the way to a 3-1 victory.
"We were down 1-0 at the half," Hauskens said.
Back up goalie, foreign exchange student Sophie Shreider, was in net for the Lady Bruins.
"We scored the tying goal about 20 minutes in to the second half," Hauskens said. "The last two goals came in the final three minutes of the game, the first on a penalty kick by Kaitlynn Deabenderfer."
Denair was called for a hand ball in the box, a call the Denair coach vehemently opposed, claiming it was unintentional.
Regardless, the hand ball was obvious and Deabenderfer was called on to take the shot. She calmly set up and gave the Denair keeper no chance on a rocket shot she sent to the right post.
That put the girls up by a 2-1 score and they put the game away on a beautiful rush in the final minute, with Erica Orellana evading two defenders on her way to the shot. The goalie deflected it but it bounced away, right to the foot of an onrushing Celia Duran, who found nothing but net.
"We got great midfield play from Celina Lopez and Lupita Gutierrez," Hauskens said. "Stephani Araujo played great defense, so did Angela Duran and our exchange student, Sophie Shreider, had two stops in goal."
The Lady Bruins amassed more than 40 shots on goal in a dominating performance.
They were slated to open Trans-Valley League play this week, at home against Ripon on Monday after The News went to press and they will travel to Escalon for a match on Wednesday, March 11 at 4:30 p.m.
