Grizzly soccer season opens with highs and lows
The Grizzlies soccer season opened Thursday, Nov. 29 at the Foothill tournament. Starting the season with a mixed bag of winning one of three games. Losing against Shasta at 2-0, they turned it around Friday, Nov. 30 against Red Bluff High School where they beat them 2-1. The final game against Paradise had an ill-fated loss of 3-0.
Grizzlies vs. Shasta
The Grizzlies ran into trouble against Shasta in the first half as Shasta was able to slip a goal in off the Grizzly defense and passed the keeper for Shasta’s first goal, while the second goal came from outside the goal box past the Grizzly defense.
Diego Tronosco displayed some impressive footwork breaking through the Shasta defense but was just unable to get the shot to finish.
Anthony Wagner and his leadership led the Grizzlies in keeping up the pace against Shasta.
Goal keeper Ethan Heffner allowed two goals for Shasta but saved more shots on goal to keep the Grizzlies in the game. Wesley Langston ran a very orchestrated defense, shutting down Shasta’s attacks.
“For the first game of the season we played very well, like every first game we had to make a few adjustment and held off Shasta the whole second half after they slipped two quick goals in,” said head coach Johan Kampfraat.
Grizzlies vs. Red Bluff
The Grizzlies had far better luck against Red Bluff as newcomer and freshman Cameron Ross came in to dominate for the Grizzlies.
Ross shot both goals for the Grizzlies capitalizing on the Red Bluff keeper who strayed off his line, where both goals came in over the keepers head close to 25 yards out.
Ethan Heffner was pivotal as goalkeeper keeping the Grizzlies in the game with two huge saves to hold off the Red Bluff advance.
“We were very exhausted from just coming off the Shasta game but I am very proud of the team for giving it everything they have to hold off the win and keep fighting for it,” said coach Kampfraat.
Grizzlies vs. Paradise
The Grizzlies definitely felt the pressure against Paradise. Nick Valdez displayed amazing leadership abilities and never gave up, he kept the pressure on Paradise to keep the Grizzlies planted in the game.
“We let Paradise get the best of us in this match, we had a few Key players out from injuries and a lot of mental breakdowns from the team as a whole and Paradise capitalized on it and picked us apart,” said coach Kampfraat.
