By Coach Chura

The Varsity soccer team dominated a very good Pinnacle team Friday night at home with a record crowd and an unbelievable performance! It was one of the best performances any Xavier team has ever played from start to finish. Credit to our amazing team who worked so hard to take home the victory.

The fun began when senior Maddie Shank played a perfect pass to Junior Michal Cagungun who made a great diagonal run towards the goal where Maddie found her for the one-time, left-footed shot to the far post.

Then freshman Defender Sophia Knox won a ball in our defensive third of the field and then found senior Lucy Brink, who then found sophomore Olivia Yu, who delivered a perfect pass again to Michal, who then blasted a first-time shot past the Pinnacle goalkeeper. The buildup of that goal was beautiful to watch.

The third goal was scored by senior captain Lourdes Lauterborn, who dribbled her way inside the box and was tripped and awarded a penalty kick. Lourdes blasted her shot past the goalkeeper for the third score to get us to halftime.

The Gators kept their foot on the gas and scored three more goals in the second half.

The fourth goal was a thing of beauty. Sophomore Olivia Yu beat a bunch of defenders down the flank, and Lourdes made a 40-yard run up the field to arrive on a perfect service played by Olivia for the score.

Pinnacle did not go away and got off a point blank shot that senior captain goalkeeper Kate Willmering saved in mid air. It was jaw dropping. Kate would soon have to do the same thing and come up big again, but this time Pinnacle was right in front of the goal, and Kate made a diving save to her right to deflect the ball out of the goal to deny Pinnacle any goals and keep a clean sheet.

Soon after, the Gators would counter back down the field for the fifth goal. Sophomore Myriam Lawrence delivered a beautiful pass into the run of Michal, who cut the ball inside and took the left-footed shot for the score to complete a hat trick. Scoring three goals in a game is an amazing feat and Michal did that.

The 6th and final goal came when freshman Asha Patel outworked the Pinnacle players to win the ball, and then she served a cross in the air for sophomore Kyleigh Carr, who headed the ball past the goalkeeper for the final goal of the night. 

This was a total team win and a performance we are all so proud of. 

Besides the players that were mentioned many more were huge in the game. The Defenders… Freshman Sophia Knox, sophomore Bianca Willis, Junior Izzy Lee, and junior Charlotte Sredzinski played absolutely fantastic all night long.

The Midfield of Ally Brown, Lucy Brink, and Lourdes Lauterborn was top notch offensively and defensively.

Then the front line of Maddie, Michal, and Liv was incredible. So fun!!!

Go Gators!!!