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The Pioneer Valley girls soccer team after its draw game against Righetti.
Players from the Pioneer Valley (white jerseys) and Righetti (purple) girls soccer teams greet each other at midfield after the teams tied 2-2 in a non-league game at Righetti Wednesday night.
Sports Reporter
The Pioneer Valley girls soccer team after its draw game against Righetti.
Players from the Pioneer Valley (white jerseys) and Righetti (purple) girls soccer teams greet each other at midfield after the teams tied 2-2 in a non-league game at Righetti Wednesday night.
The Pioneer Valley girls soccer program has come a long way.
The team went 2-22-1 in 2022-23 and took an 11-0 drubbing from Righetti that season. After a 7-7-4, 3-3-2 2023-24, the Panthers are 2-0-2 on the young season after tying the home-standing Warriors (0-1-2) 2-2 in a non-league game at Righetti on a cold Wednesday night.
The temperature at halftime was 52 degrees with a wind chill factor of 51. Pioneer Valley and Righetti did not play each other last season.
If both teams considered the Wednesday night draw a sort of win, both will have done so with good reason. The Panthers got a draw with Righetti after taking the 11-0 pounding from the Warriors two seasons ago. The Warriors, thanks to two Claire Consorti goals, came from a goal behind twice in the second half to get a tie.
A few minutes after Camila Echeverria knocked home a free kick from 20 yards out at the 14:39 mark of the second half to put Pioneer Valley ahead 2-1, Consorti, a freshman, rammed a shot off the hands of Panthers back-up goal keeper Ashley Velazquez and into the net to get the Warriors the tie.
“I used my body,” Consorti said. “And I just kicked the ball as hard as I could.”
The Panthers tried to clear the ball during a scramble several yards from their net, but Consorti cut the pass off, booted the ball and scored her second goal.
After assisting Yoceline Mendez in the first half with the first goal of the game, Echeverria put her free kick past the Righetti wall and into the net on the right side.
“The goalie wasn’t there, so I had my space and I took my chance,” said Echeverria. Echeverria made it work.
The Panthers drove the ball down the left side during a first-half foray, and Mendez, after taking a pass from Echeverria, booted the ball high into the net for the first goal of the game.
Jasleen Rubio, Pioneer Valley’s freshman starting goalkeeper, foiled multiple good Righetti scoring chances in the first half. She dove flat out to save one shot, grabbed the ball during a scramble and saved another promising-looking shot.
A first-half Evelyn Zarate shot for Righetti grazed the top post and went harmlessly off to the side. Righetti goalie Madi Moffett made a diving first-half save to keep the score at the 1-0 it would be at halftime.
The Warriors had the ball on the Panthers’ end almost all of the first few minutes after intermission. They just couldn’t score.
They couldn’t score until, that is, Consorti worked her way deep into the penalty box, dead center from the Pioneer Valley net, took a pass from Hailey Tucker and scored.
Shortly before the second Consorti goal, Rubio went down after a collision in front of the Panthers goal and left the game. Velazquez thwarted a Righetti threat after she replaced Rubio, but Consorti eventually tied the game.
Rubio re-entered the game shortly thereafter.
The Panthers defense helped preserve the tie despite Zarate, in the first half, and Abby Sanderson, in the second, consistently plaguing them with their ball-handling. Jiselle Rubio cleared away some Righetti threats. With Velazquez out of the box, Jasmin Martinez blocked a Righetti shot.
At press time, Righetti and Pioneer Valley were slated to play in out-of-town tournaments Friday morning. Righetti was to play Reedley at Lemoore High School at 10:30 a.m. Pioneer Valley was to play Wasco in the Harold S. Young Tournament at Clovis Buchanan High School at 11 a.m.
Sports Reporter
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