Varsity girls soccer tied with Glendora High School 0-0 on Dec. 12, ending their preseason with a score of 2-3-1. 

Glendora kicked off to begin the match and pushed to gain an early offense. With the Mustangs struggling to maintain defense, the Tartans had many open lanes to find goals. However, goalkeeper junior Talisa Perez intervened three shots in the first half. With the game’s pace picking up, both teams fought over possession of the ball back and forth. 

“The ball was rolling in the box, [so] I went to dive for it and the [opponent] was about to dive for it, too. I got it before she did which was pretty cool,” Perez said. “There were not many issues [in] our defenses, which I thought was pretty good.”

As the second half approached, left forward freshman Ellie Lopez applied pressure, disrupting Glendora’s attempt to advance the ball in the opposite direction. With the help of forward junior Vianna Alvarez, the two girls kept Glendora’s offense at bay, allowing Walnut’s defense to launch a counterattack. The Mustangs ended the first half 0-0.

“[Glendora] was really physical and gave us a hard time to get a goal. We definitely need to work on executing shots under pressure,” Lopez said. “Our captains and [coaches] were very uplifting so that helped my teammates and I feel more comfortable and confident.”

Coming into the second half, both teams played with more intensity, picking up their offense and defense on the field. The Mustangs received a foul, but quickly recovered, dribbling the ball up to Glendora’s goal. Central midfielder senior Alejandra Urrieta made several passes to her teammates, resulting in multiple throw-ins near the goal. In the game’s last minutes, the Mustangs found an opportunity to score against Glendora’s defense but could not connect in the final moments.

“It was disappointing that we tied and did not win because we played well and expected a better result in our favor,” Urrieta said. “For [future] league games, we have to work on scoring goals and finding a rhythm to get the ball near the goal.” 

“I was proud of our girls for matching Glendora’s high intensity from the start,” varsity girls soccer coach Manny Basulto said. “We created scoring chances in the first ten minutes of the game that set the tone for our offense early on. The game atmosphere was amazing as well [and] we had a lot of support in the stands for that game.”