Ell Macias

Despite the weather, Metea Valley girls’ soccer team still have it their all during the game.

The Metea Valley girls varsity soccer team recently beat Neuqua Valley 1-0 in a home conference game, moving the Mustangs up to first place in the DVC with two wins under their belt.

The student section was also present to show their support on Thursday by engaging in a halftime show led by Mustangs Supporting Mustangs, a committee group created by the Captains Council. The group’s main goal is to find more ways to bring students to more sports events.

“We want to increase the sense of support of our athletic department in our school,” junior Cameron Leys said. “By doing events like this, we think we can help [more sports].”

The students present were able to be part of a raffle, with a ticket given to them in the entrance. The five winners of the raffle were able to participate in a competition at halftime.

Before the end of the first half, the Mustangs were still tied 0-0. The Mustangs’ backline made great defensive efforts throughout the game, especially in the first half. They were able to stop a lot of the opponents attacks, especially on the wings. Speed and strength were necessary from the full-backs, which they delivered. The Mustangs’ center backs were also very dominant, both in the ground and air.

With 16 minutes left in the first half, a mistake from the Wildcats’ defense led to a breakaway from senior Lucy Burk, which she easily passed in the goal, out of reach of the Neuqua goalkeeper. The goal was later disallowed due to an offsides call. 

Many offsides calls were made throughout the game, which stopped many promising attacks from the Mustangs.

At halftime, they announced the ten winning numbers, which were asked to come down to the field to play in a penalty shoot-out. Participants took turns taking a penalty kick on goal. After three rounds, two winners were called and announced. The winners were decided by the number of penalty kicks they scored. The two winners were rewarded with free food from the concession stand. 

“Students should not only want to be there to support their peers, but [events like this] should motivate them to as they have a chance to have lots of fun with friends and witness the amount of student support grow,” Leys said.

In the second half, there was a lot of back and forth action between the two teams. The Wildcat backline was making it difficult for our Mustangs. But with 31 minutes left in the game, a well-delivered pass was played to junior Olivia Hernandez, which she did not waste. After easily dribbling around the player marking her, she simply placed a shot to the side of the net, putting Metea ahead of the Wildcats.

The rest of the game was well-fought from both sides, but the opposing team wasn’t able to get a goal to tie the game. The final score was 1-0, bringing Metea’s overall record to 7-1-1. A great game to finish off the week. 

“We would love to see many students at all upcoming Metea sports events,” Leys said. “The reality is that our athletic program is increasing, so support should increase as well.”