Lassen High School's girls' soccer team has emerged from the first half of its Westside League campaign without a loss. The Grizzlies survived a sputtering offensive effort to beat Corning 1-0 at home Tuesday, Jan. 16 and to push their record to 4-0-1.

Scoreless at the half, Lassen netted the winning goal courtesy of LeAnn McCracken. The forward broke the tie early in the second half, scoring with an assist from Keli Sloan.

"Corning wasn't bad and were pretty physical," Lassen head coach Steve Datema said. "The game was played mostly in the midfield. They never really threatened us. We had a lot of scoring chances that we didn't take advantage of."

The Grizzlies and atop the WSL and appear primed to win yet another league crown.

"The girls are coming together, but have a way to go to get ready for the playoffs," Datema said. "The players have been improving all year long. We still need to be ready and stop making those mistakes that young teams make."

Datema gives plenty of praise to his defense for the team's success.

"Our defensive four has given up more than two goals in a game this year. Jessica Savage has been strong in goal, and Jessa Shelly, Elise Estes, Kirby Jensen and Melissa Struve have been so strong," Datema said. "Crystal Perkins also fills in nicely on defense."

The weather has been kind to the Grizzlies - little snow and Datema actually wore a short-sleeve shirt during last Friday's game at Central Valley.

"The weather hasn't too bad at all," said Datema, who can remember practicing indoors because of heavy snows.

"The field was frozen during one game, but so far we haven't had to do what seemed to be the usual - play a game without practicing outdoors all week."

Central Valley failed to put up much of a fight in a 3-0 Lassen victory. Courtney Oates punched in a pair of goals and Sloan added another.

The boys suffered a rare home loss to Corning. Lassen's Dillon Moore scored in the opening minutes on an assist from Daniel Nareau, but it was all down hill from there. The Cardinals scored twice in each half.

The loss dropped Lassen's league record to 3-2.

The coaching staff made several lineup changes before facing off against Central Valley to improve the midfield passing game and reduce the number of turnovers.

It paid off as the Grizzlies skated to a 6-1 win. Moore opened the scoring with goal from an Aurelio Sanchez feed and then poured it on netting the next two goals.

Solid defensive play by Kevin Lyman, Joey Deal, Sanchez and Nareau kept the Falcons at bay as Jouni Kinnunen contributed with a breakaway goal.

Deal then got into the act, scoring on an assist from Lyman, and Brandon Vinson capped the scoring 30 minutes into the second half.

Lassen coach Dan Bruce said he was pleased with the team's overall play.

"Our one-touch passing skills came alive in this game. It allowed us to dominate the game and gave us plenty of scoring opportunities," Bruce said.

Lassen travels to Oroville Tuesday, Jan. 23 and hosts Las Plumas Thursday, Jan. 25 at Riverside Park in Susanville.

The girls play at 3:15 p.m. followed by the boys' game under the lights.