Friday, Apr. 18, 2008

Livingston High ladies' soccer team plays Orestimba

By Kathy Hibma

Livingston High's Varsity Lady Wolves donned red pennies for play on Wednesday as they matched up against Lady Warriors of Orestimba. Since both schools' main color is deep purple, the teams had to have some way to distinguish players on both teams from each other; the referees still had a hard time keeping the two teams completely straight.

It was a difficult game for Livingston. The Lady Wolves made a score in the first few minutes as Myra Silva made her shot count with the assist of Celeste Aguilar. That would be the last score for the Ladies until just a few minutes prior to the end of the game, when Gloria Garcia added a point for the Wolves, also with the assist of Aguilar.

"Our defense won the game for us," said Lady Wolf Head Coach Stephanie Avila. "We had so many opportunities that we didn't follow through on...we must have attempted 30 goals... we could not finish them."

Trying to stay upbeat from the sidelines during the game, Avila constantly encouraged the players to "talk to each other" however, communication was limited at best and Lady Wolves struggled offensively. Livingston had the advantage of playing with the wind the second half constantly bringing the ball up the sidelines, only to get held in the corner pockets at the mercy of the fierce Warriors. Yet it was the Wolf defense that dominated the field with an almost impervious shield, especially in the second half only allowing the Warriors to break through momentarily before they reined the Warriors back in sending the ball back up field. The Warriors were only able to connect for one goal late in the first half.

While the Wolf defense kept the ball from passing midfield, Lady Wolf goalie Maria Briones fought boredom by using the down time to do various exercises dealing with the situation like the famous Maytag Repair Man.

Final score was Livingston Lady Wolves 2 to Warriors 1. Livingston's league record is 1-5, overall 2-8. Lady Wolf Soccer will play Patterson Tigers today at 4 p.m. in Livingston.

Reporter Kathy Hibma can be reached at kathy@hibmaphoto.com