Sonoma Valley girls end soccer pre-season without a loss

It was a battle on Saturday at Adele Harrison Field, as the Sonoma Valley Dragon girls soccer squad faced a strong Concord High School team.

At the end of play, the Dragons remained undefeated – the final score, 2-2, goes down in the third column of games tied for their 2-0-2 record.

Coach Ellie Ceja was looking forward to meeting a strong team at the end of the pre-season to further prepare for the upcoming VVAL season.

“We’ve been playing well, but it’s hard to gauge until you see really strong competition.” The Concord Minutemen have been scoring five and six goals a game, but they were met with a stingy Dragon defense from Valen Martin, Lauren Johnston, Ella Sutter, Yuli Lopez and Araceli Blanco Rodriguez, backed up by goalkeeper Renee Bell.

The teams were evenly matched when a foul was called and Shauna Johnston launched a cross into the box that caromed off the crossbar to Caroline Studdert, who headed the rebound in to give the Dragons an early lead.

Concord answered back quickly, however, also on a direct kick. The teams were locked 1-1 at halftime.

The Dragons were threatening in the second half when another direct kick was awarded, and senior Shauna Johnston converted all on her own with a beautiful shot over the wall and just under the crossbar. That made Sonoma Valley the first team this year to score two goals against Concord.

The Dragons were able to hold onto the lead until Concord scored a breakaway goal against the run of play with 10 minutes remaining to tie the game. Concord’s record on the year is now 6-1-1.

But the Dragons remain undefeated through their pre-season, and will practice over the break to prepare for their first match against VVAL opponent Napa High at Napa’s Memorial Stadium on Jan. 3, 2020.

Boys soccer

Sonoma Valley’s varsity boys soccer team notched the young season’s first win on Monday, Dec. 16, with a 3-1 victory over El Molino in Forestville. It was by far the best outing yet for the team, as the Dragons endured two big losses earlier this month, falling to Montgomery 5-1 on Dec. 9, and to Piner on Dec. 13, by an 8-1 score.

Look for more information on the boys soccer season in future issues.