On a chilly Saturday morning, Sequoia played host to Aragon in an intense and competitive soccer game. The Ravens were fresh off a dominant victory against El Camino where they won 6-0 led by two goals from junior striker Heather Benway. On the other hand, Aragon had just suffered a demoralizing defeat to Carlmont, losing 7-0. Despite what these scores may have suggested, the game was extremely close. 

“We came into the game against Aragon feeling very confident as we had just played a great game, however, we knew we still had to play hard as Aragon would not give in”, said junior defensive back, Isabelle Bogan. 

Unfortunately, the Ravens came out flat and made a few crucial errors such as an own goal by senior Kenzie Caswell resulting in an early 2-0 deficit. Then, just before half-time, Heather Benway volleyed a ball into the top of the net to cut the lead to one goal. After a solid halftime performance consisting of 3 vs 3 boys soccer, the second half was set to start. 

“Going into the second half we were really determined to come out with a statement as we knew we were the better team and we were disappointed in our first-half performance”, said junior striker Heather Benway.

That they did as second-half scoring was kicked off by a penalty kick goal, once again by Heather Benway. The penalty came after junior Kira Spottiswood was fouled inside the box by #9 of Aragon. For a stretch of ten or fifteen minutes, the game was scoreless however still intriguing and intense as players were visibly getting chippy. At one point Spottiswood and #9 of Aragon exchanged words following an advantage foul on #9. Then, to put Sequoia up 3-2, senior mid-fielder Celina Rincon scored on a beautiful ball into the left side of the goal. Sequoia fans erupted as they knew it was the game-winning goal. After a failed last chance comeback attempt, emotions got the best of the Dons as #9 was given a yellow card and taken out of the game with minutes to go. 

Following the game, senior mid-fielder Anika Huisman said, “we need to work on playing both halves focused and intense rather than just relying on flipping the switch in the second half because against better teams, we won’t be able to. With this being said, we are looking forward to getting back on the field to work on our weak points of the game.”

Head coach Melissa Schmidt was unwilling to talk about the game, likely due to the fact that the team came out slow, and what was a close game, should have been an easy victory for Sequoia. Anyhow, the Ravens will begin preparation for their next matchup against Terra Nova on January 28. Terra Nova holds a record of 3-9-1, leading to Sequoia being favored. Though just as the Aragon game showed, any team is capable of pulling off an upset, so Coach Schmidt and the team must come out strong and take care of business.