Anastacia Martinez moves the ball ahead for Heritage on Monday. (Photo by Brian Thornton)
By Jacob Pitcock, Correspondent
Heritage High School’s girls soccer team lost its second game in a row Monday evening, 2-1 to Elsinore.
It was a tale of two halves as the Patriots looked to respond after a 3-2 loss to Liberty on Nov. 20. The game started off in Heritage’s favor; the Patriots’ high press forced the Tigers to live in their own half of the field, unable to provide their defense some room to breathe.
Despite the constant pressure, the first 20 minutes of the game went by with little to show for Heritage outside of some inviting crosses that could not find a Patriot in the box to capitalize on.
With lots of success opening up the Elsinore defense through the wing, Heritage found its first major scoring chance of the match. Ducee Zenteno found herself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, only to have her shot saved, keeping the score deadlocked at 0-0.
A few minutes later, Heritage was back on the attack. The play started with a brilliant solo effort by Jynessa Anaya. After moving past multiple defenders, she laid the ball off to Zenteno wide open near the 6-yard box. Zenteno buried it in the corner of the net to give the Patriots a 1-0 lead. That’s the way the score stood at halftime.
The second half saw a complete reversal of the first half. The Tigers were able to keep continual pressure on the Patriots defense.
“I think it was kind of a lack of conditioning and a lack of focus by our team that changed the flow of the game,” said coach Michael Mattison. “We definitely had full control in the first half, passing the ball well, communicating well, and a lot of movement, but in the second half we lacked the discipline we needed, and we lacked the conditioning we needed to move for each other.”
The continued Elsinore pressure eventually led to a breakaway shot that was saved by goalkeeper Jennifer Zavala. But minutes later, the Tigers found their breakthrough, tying the game up at 1-1.
The game continued at a breakneck pace as both teams looked for that winning goal. Then 25 minutes into the second half, Heritage had a shot hit the post. That was their last big scoring chance. Elsinore scored a last-minute goal and held on for a 2-1 victory.
The Heritage program is coming off a CIF finals appearance last season, but as Mattison stated after the game, “Last year we were a very senior-laden team. We had seven starting seniors that we lost. It’s basically a completely different team.
“We have a great base, and a lot of great players who came in this year, they all have their own personalities, and we’re going to work to get better game to game.”
Heritage will look to get back on track in their next game against Rubidoux on Thursday.
Zoey Romero brings the ball out toward midfield. (Photo by Brian Thornton)
The Patriots celebrate what would be their only goal of the game. (Photo by Brian Thornton)
